“The key thing in Montreal would be to have a plan for an adequate facility that could support baseball over the long haul,” he told The Canadian Press just a few days before Montreal hosts two exhibition games between the Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds at Olympic Stadium.

Manfred explained MLB would need a strong commitment from Montreal for a new stadium before the league could seriously consider relocating a team or expanding there.

“(Montreal needs) a plan for a major league facility. A firm, committed-to plan,” he said. “I don’t expect people to go into the ground and build a facility without some sort of commitment that they are going to get a team. But I do think that you need a plan, and a commitment to how that plan is going to be executed.”

Manfred, who replaced Bud Selig as commissioner in January, said MLB is not looking in the short-term to increasing the league to 32 teams, despite strong interest in Montreal.

More than 80,000 tickets have already been sold for the two upcoming exhibition games between Toronto and Cincinnati. Olympic Stadium, built for the 1976 Games and home to the Expos starting in 1977, holds 45,757 fans when configured for baseball. It is also sometimes home to Major League Soccer’s Impact and the Canadian Football League’s Alouettes.

Over 96,000 tickets were sold last year when Montreal hosted two games between the Blue Jays and the New York Mets.

“The exhibition games last year, and how well they were attended and at least the early reports on the games this year demonstrate a real interest in Major League Baseball and the Montreal market,” Manfred said. “We find that to be very interesting and exciting.”

According to Manfred, exhibition games in non-MLB cities are an important litmus test for the potential viability of a baseball market.

“The games like those exhibition games in new markets are important as an initial test of the level of interest that the market has in the game,” he said. “When you have the kind of success you’ve had in Montreal you kind of pass the first initial test of whether it’s a market that could support baseball.”

The new commissioner didn’t give much away as to the league’s plans for the future, but he did say that if the MLB expands beyond the continental United States, the likely new markets will be in Mexico or Canada.

“Mexico and Canada present the most fertile ground just in terms of the level of baseball interest and the proximity to our existing franchises,” he said.

Manfred said the league prefers to make baseball work in existing markets, despite the troubles some MLB cities have been facing, such as Tampa Bay and Oakland.

“But we have always been realistic,” he said. “At the end of the day, relocation to another market could be the only solution.”

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/mlb-commissioner-montreal-needs-firm-plan-for-stadium/feed0AMC14 0328 Baseball 0803thecanadianpressToronto Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman likely out for year with torn ACLhttp://o.canada.com/sports/toronto-blue-jays-pitcher-marcus-stroman-likely-out-for-year-with-torn-acl
http://o.canada.com/sports/toronto-blue-jays-pitcher-marcus-stroman-likely-out-for-year-with-torn-acl#commentsTue, 10 Mar 2015 18:44:33 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=596886&preview_id=596886]]>DUNEDIN, Fla. — The Toronto Blue Jays suffered a body blow Tuesday with the news that young starter Marcus Stroman is expected to miss the entire season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a fielding drill.

General manager Alex Anthopoulos said the 23-year-old right-hander will seek a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, and surgery is likely.

Anthopoulos said Stroman was participating in bunting practice when he was called off by third baseman Josh Donaldson. Stroman planted his feet to stop, then felt a pop in his knee.

Beyond devastated. Not being able to compete with my brothers each and every day is extremely disappointing. Still can't believe it.

“Beyond devastated,” Stroman tweeted. “Not being able to compete with my brothers each and every day is extremely disappointing. Still can’t believe it.”

It was the second significant training camp injury for the Jays. Canadian outfielder Michael Saunders tore the meniscus in his knee in a freak accident when he stepped into a sprinkler head indentation while shagging fly balls.

The prognosis was better than expected for Saunders after having 60 per cent of his meniscus removed. He could be ready for Opening Day.

Stroman is expected to take much longer to heal.

“It’s one of those things,” Anthopoulos said. “(It was) not expected and bad luck I guess.”

His injury leaves a void in the Jays rotation, which had looked to be R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle, Stroman, Drew Hutchison and a pitcher still to be determined.

And it may push the Jays into using Aaron Sanchez as a starter rather than closer. Other starting options are Daniel Norris and Marco Estrada, who were battling for the fifth spot in the rotation.

“No doubt to lose a guy like Stroman is a significant loss for us,” Anthopoulos said. “But you move forward and it’s going to be an opportunity for some of the other guys that are here.”

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman had been all smiles in camp this year, more at ease with in the clubhouse after a year in the major leagues. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Former Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana is a longshot to be in the mix. He is trying a comeback with the Jays, but is still some time away from seeing if he still has the goods.

Stroman, a 2012 first-round pick, appeared in 26 games for the Blue Jays last season. He went 11-6 with a 3.65 earned-run average and 111 strikeouts in 130 2/3 innings.

The native of Medford, N.Y., had been all smiles in camp this year, more at ease with in the clubhouse after a year in the major leagues.

“Last year being a young guy coming into your first spring training, you can’t really be yourself,” he said recently. “And I’m pretty flashy, I talk a lot. This year I’m able to do that.”

And with six pitches in his repertoire including a newly minted sinker, Stroman has plenty of weapons on the mound.

He was off to a good start this spring. Stroman had not given up an earned run in 4 1/3 innings over two pre-season appearances.

“We all know the energy he brings and how badly he wants to win and be a part of this team,” Anthopoulos said. “It’s just one of those things. He’s probably the best athlete on the team and is in as good of shape as anybody you’re going to have. He’s the last guy you would expect for that to happen.

“Again, it’s just a freak thing. But we move forward.”

The Jays were looking for big things from Stroman in 2015.

“He’s that good. And he’s that confident.” manager John Gibbons said last week.

A muscular five foot eight and 180 pounds, the outgoing Stroman is very comfortable in his own skin.

“I feel a lot different, I feel much more relaxed,” he said last week. “I’m focused, I know what I have to do rather than doing everything in my power to go out there and trying to make the team, doing more than I had to.

“I’m relaxed, I’m motivated, I’m ready to go.”

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/toronto-blue-jays-pitcher-marcus-stroman-likely-out-for-year-with-torn-acl/feed0Marcus StromanthecanadianpressToronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman, centre, talks with his mother Adelin Auffanc, second right, before playing against the Pittsburgh Pirates during first inning Grapefruit League baseball action in Dunedin, Fla., on Tuesday, March 3, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan DenetteToronto Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion out 4-5 days due to back inflammationhttp://o.canada.com/sports/toronto-blue-jays-slugger-edwin-encarnacion-out-4-5-days-due-to-back-inflammation
http://o.canada.com/sports/toronto-blue-jays-slugger-edwin-encarnacion-out-4-5-days-due-to-back-inflammation#commentsTue, 10 Mar 2015 14:28:30 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=596808&preview_id=596808]]>DUNEDIN, Fla. — Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion likely will be sidelined for four-to-five days because of back inflammation.

The two-time all-star said he felt a little tightness after Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh and had a precautionary MRI on Monday night.

“We’re checking it today to see what I have,” Encarnacion said Tuesday. “It’s something I want to make sure it’s right. … I want to do that before I continue my work.”

Manager John Gibbons expects the first baseman-designated hitter to return to the lineup in about a week.

“It’s just irritation, you know, a lot of swings early in camp,” Gibbons said. “There’s no damage in there.”

Encarnacion hit .268 with 34 homers and 98 RBIs in 128 games last season, hindered by a right quadriceps injury throughout the second half. He is hitless in six plate appearances in spring training.

But Dickey and Martin, who has embarked on a crash course in catching the knuckler, both saw progress in their collaboration on a rain-delayed spring start that drew an announced crowd of 5,013 on a grey day at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

Dickey struck out three in two scoreless innings that saw six balls squib off Martin’s glove. The misses did not come at a cost, however.

“I had a real good one today,” said Dickey.

“Sometimes it just feels good in your hand,” he added. “You’re able to throw it without rotation and it moves all over the place. Today was just one of those days I had a good feel for it in my hand. I was throwing it for strikes.”

Chris Colabello hit a two-run homer for the Jays off Orioles starter Mike Wright as Toronto (2-2) edged Baltimore 5-4. Chris Dickerson scored the winning run in the eighth on a throwing error by pitcher Steve Johnson, whose throw to second went astray thanks in part to a hard slide by Dwight Smith Jr.

Alejandro De Aza had a two-run homer run for the Orioles (1-3) off Liam Hendriks.

Martin being able to catch Dickey is one of the dominos that needs to fall before other decisions can be made in the Jays lineup. Having to carry Josh Thole, who has been Dickey’s personal catcher in recent years, takes Martin’s bat out of the lineup and costs a valuable roster spot with catcher-DH Dioner Navarro still in the mix.

Martin was using a knuckleball glove he got four days ago. The big mitt has spent time in the microwave in his bid to work it in.

“I feel comfortable behind the plate,” said the $82-million US catcher. “Obviously, it’s still a short sample but every time I go out there, I feel a little bit better.”

Friday marked the first time Martin had caught Dickey in a real game situation, although the two worked together in an intra-squad contest Monday and have been near inseparable in training be it playing catch or combining on bullpen sessions.

Dickey said there was only one missed ball that he thought Martin might have had a chance of getting.

“He’s definitely got all the tools. It’s just a matter of working together.”

Dickey also appreciates Martin’s approach.

“One of his traits that’s very valuable is that he wants the best for the other guy. And that shines through for him. That’s a good leadership attribute.”

Slated to start at 1:05 p.m. ET, the game was delayed until 2:47 due to a downpour that brought out the tarp. In the interim, star outfielder Jose Bautista was scratched due to right hamstring tightness.

Dickey opened by striking out De Aza and Everth Cabrera on seven pitches — six strikes and a foul ball — before walking Chris Parmelee on four straight balls, two of which eluded Martin. The catcher lost the handle on two more pitches before Dickey struck out former Jay Travis Snider in an eight-pitch at-bat to end the inning.

Martin lost the handle on two more balls as former Toronto catcher J.P. Arencibia opened the second inning but Dickey registered three outs in short order to became the first Jays starter this spring to complete two innings.

Drew Hutchinson followed Dickey with two more scoreless innings.

Baltimore opted to leave its big names at home after a 5-0 win Thursday night over the Jays in Sarasota. Toronto brought out its starters for the home outing.

And on Friday, for the second straight day, he threw on flat ground, this time from 90 feet, landing on that left leg with every toss, and feeling no ill effects. The previous day, he threw from 75 feet.

His rapid recovery continues to astound him.

“When they told me I was going to walk out of surgery, I basically called B.S., considering the way I felt two days prior to it,” the Blue Jays’ left-fielder said. “But I walked out of surgery and I’ve felt amazed at the way my knee feels, considering everything. It’s an amazing thing.”

Blue Jays outfielder Michael Saunders, left, chats with head trainer George Poulis after a throwing session in Dunedin, Fla., on Friday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Neil Davidson

Within a few days, he expects to start hitting off a tee. He is a left-handed batter, so the torque on his knee from hitting will be different from the impact of throwing. Running will come last in his rehab, but if all goes well, he could start running in a week or so.

After the surgery, general manager Alex Anthopoulos said Saunders could be in the lineup by opening day in Toronto on April 13. But Saunders cautions that the process is day-to-day.

“So far, so good,” he said. “The training staff are pushing me, but we’re pushing each other. At the end of the day, I’ve got to listen to my knee, but we’re headed in a good direction.”

Saunders tore up the meniscus in his knee when he stepped on a sprinkler head while chasing a fly ball on a practice field. Repairing the damage might have forced him to the sidelines until the all-star break. But the damage was too extensive to repair. With the cartilage removed, his recovery period is much shorter.

“There’s nothing in there now that needs to be healed, so now it’s about controlling the swelling,” which will subside naturally, he said.

“Everything feels stable, strong and healthy in there right now,” he said.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/toronto-blue-jays-outfielder-michael-saunders-recovering-quickly-from-surgery/feed0saunders_throw_8122postmedianews1Blue Jays outfielder Michael Saunders, left, chats with head trainer George Poulis after a throwing session in Dunedin, Fla., on Friday, March 6, 2015. Saunders underwent a knee procedure last week after tearing his meniscus in a freak accident when he stepped on a sprinkler head indentation. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Neil DavidsonCelebrated Jays prospect Daniel Norris shows lively arm in spring outinghttp://o.canada.com/sports/celebrated-jays-prospect-daniel-norris-shows-lively-arm-in-spring-outing
http://o.canada.com/sports/celebrated-jays-prospect-daniel-norris-shows-lively-arm-in-spring-outing#commentsFri, 06 Mar 2015 03:23:44 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=596100&preview_id=596100]]>SARASOTA, Fla. — Blue Jays left-hander Daniel Norris showed off a lively arm and the ability to adjust on the go in his first start of the spring Thursday night against a well-stocked Baltimore Orioles lineup.

Norris, a celebrated prospect looking to nail down Toronto’s fifth starter spot, quickly got leadoff hitter Manny Machado in an 0-2 hole but eventually gave up a single. After a flyout, he walked Adam Jones to put men on first and second.

Strikeouts of Delmon Young, who went down to a wicked curveball, and Chris Davis ended a long first inning that had threatened to go south.

Norris exited after two quick outs in a more effective second. He threw 36 pitches, 22 for strikes, in facing seven batters on a balmy 22-degree night that drew a crowd of 6,078 to picturesque Ed Smith Stadium.

Davis’ three-run homer off Chad Jenkins in the third and Jonathan Schoop’s two-run blast off Cory Burns in the seventh lifted the Orioles (1-2) to a 5-0 pre-season victory over the Jays (1-2).

Baltimore outhit Toronto 8-4.

Norris said he noticed during the first inning he was dropping his front shoulder, causing him to get behind hitters. He made the adjustment and his pitches starting doing what they were supposed to.

“That was big for me,” he said.

The 21-year-old from Tennessee started last season in Class-A and rose all the way to the major leagues, seeing action in five games for the Jays. He says that brief exposure to the big leagues has helped him this spring.

“Seeing those names before, I’m maybe not as intimidated as I was in September.”

Norris has drawn plenty of attention for his surfer lifestyle back-story which includes a penchant for going off the grid in his 1978 mustard-coloured Volkswagen camper van dubbed Shaggy. A photo of him shaving with an axe also added to the aura despite the fact it was staged for a modelling shoot.

His Twitter bio states his credo: “I live to find 3 things. 1. Eternal life. 2. The strike zone. & 3. Good waves.”

It’s perhaps not what one would expect from someone who got a $2-million US signing bonus from the Jays, who drafted him in the second round (74th overall) out of high school in 2011.

The Norris legend grew Thursday with an ESPN profile titled “The Man in the Van,” which called him “the most interesting pitcher in baseball.”

“I thought they got the wrong guy,” Norris said of the compliment.

Asked about the attention, he conceded he was “not a huge fan of it.”

“It’s kind of weird,” he added. “I understand at this point, it’s kind of inevitable … I’d rather just kind of tuck away a little bit and just play ball.”

Manager John Gibbons, a straight-shooter from Texas, enjoys Norris’ outlook.

“He’s a different bird,” he said before the game. “Any time you live in a van, I wouldn’t say that’s normal … If he’s successful I don’t know how long he’d continue to live in a van. Everybody would be looking for that van.

“But it’s kind of a neat story. Unusual, but he’s a neat kid too.”

Baseball America lists Norris as the Jays’ top prospect in 2015 — as well as No. 18 across all teams — and Gibbons likes what he sees.

“He’s a student of the game,” he said. “He’s a very smart kid and he is grounded. And he’s determined. So we’ll see. He’s got the most important thing — he’s got a great arm, so that can take him a long way.”

Norris, says Gibbons, just has to acclimate to the majors where everything is magnified.

“Once they have a little success and think ‘You know what? I can do this,’ and you combine that with a great arm, that’s how stars are born,” Gibbons said.

The Jays left their big names at home for the road trip, with the focus on Norris and newly acquired Cuban outfielder Dayan Viciedo.

Starting at DH, Viciedo ground out, struck out and flied out deep to centre.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/celebrated-jays-prospect-daniel-norris-shows-lively-arm-in-spring-outing/feed0Toronto Blue Jays v Baltimore OriolesthecanadianpressMajor leaguers getting a grip on bat tape as Canadian’s Lizard Skins company rides success from cyclinghttp://o.canada.com/sports/major-leaguers-getting-a-grip-on-bat-tape-as-canadians-lizard-skins-company-rides-success-from-cycling
http://o.canada.com/sports/major-leaguers-getting-a-grip-on-bat-tape-as-canadians-lizard-skins-company-rides-success-from-cycling#commentsWed, 04 Mar 2015 15:55:46 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=595630&preview_id=595630]]>DUNEDIN, Fla. — The Tour de France is a long way from the Toronto Blue Jays’ spring training clubhouse, but a Utah-based company has managed to find a home in both places for its products.

Lizard Skins started selling cycling accessories such as handlebar grip tape back in 1993 and now distributes to 84 countries. Seven years ago it developed a special tape for road bikes and took the technology to baseball in 2012 by offering its DSP (DuraSoft Polymer) bat wrap.

Lizard Skins general manager Brad Barker grew up in the St. Catharines, Ont., area. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

The company says its bat grip tape combines softness and tackiness while reducing vibration. And with 18 colours, including nine versions of camo, there is an element of style.

“It’s gone like gangbusters,” said Canadian Brad Barker, who is Lizard Skins general manager and has 19 years with the company.

Barker grew up playing hockey and baseball in the St. Catharines, Ont., area and had his own preference when it came to taping sticks and bats. After he moved to Utah, he kept playing the two sports and began using the handlebar grip tape.

That led him to transferring the technology to baseball.

They went to the American Baseball Coaches Association conference in January 2012 and won a “Best of Show” award. That helped them connect with distributors and dealers but things really took off when catcher John Buck took the tape to spring training in 2013.

All 30 major league teams now order the product and Barker said 175 major leaguers, including Toronto’s Russell Martin, San Francisco’s Hunter Pence, Seattle’s Robinson Cano, Detroit’s Yoenis Cespedes, the Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo and the Mets’ David Wright, used it last season.

David Ortiz and his bat with the lime green Lizard Skins tape during the 2013 World Series. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Boston slugger David Ortiz was sent the lime green tape by mistake and fell in love with it because it matched his batting gloves. He used it during the 2013 World Series, prompting a flood of calls to Barker’s company for the same tape.

Some 300 minor leaguers also use it.

“We couldn’t have written a script better than how it’s gone the last three years,” said Barker, who was showing off his products to the Jays on Tuesday.

Jays second baseman Ryan Goins is a convert.

“I like the grip because I don’t like using a lot of sticky stuff,” said Goins.

The tape comes in three thicknesses — 0.5, 1.1 and 1.8 millimetres. Barker says the pros prefer the thinnest tape, so it doesn’t increase the thickness of the handle.

The only baseball rule is that the grip can’t extend more than 18 inches (45 centimetres).

A roll costs US$10, with $12 for the popular camo colours.

Based in Oram, Utah, Lizard Skins has also branched into lacrosse and is getting into field hockey, ice hockey and racket sports.

In cycling, the company sponsors teams like Movistar and Lotto Soudal. Canadian mountain biker Geoff Kabush also uses Lizard Skins products.

Despite its patents on the tape itself, Lizard Skins has competition. Rawlings has now introduced its own grip tape.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/major-leaguers-getting-a-grip-on-bat-tape-as-canadians-lizard-skins-company-rides-success-from-cycling/feed0BBA-Bats-Lizard-Skins-20150304.jpgthecanadianpressCanadian Brad Barker, general manager of Utah-based Lizard Skins, shows off some of the grip tape his company sells for baseball bats during a visit to the Blue Jays' spring training. in Dunedin, Fla., on Tuesday, March 3, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan DenetteBOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 30: David Ortiz #34 of the Boston Red Sox reacts after striking out in the sixth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during Game Six of the 2013 World Series at Fenway Park on October 30, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)Gibbons ‘not worried’ after Sanchez hit hard in spring openerhttp://o.canada.com/sports/sanchez-hit-hard-in-jays-spring-training-opener-against-pirates
http://o.canada.com/sports/sanchez-hit-hard-in-jays-spring-training-opener-against-pirates#commentsTue, 03 Mar 2015 22:09:24 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=595462&preview_id=595462]]>DUNEDIN, Fla. — Toronto starter Aaron Sanchez ran into trouble early Tuesday as the Blue Jays opened their Grapefruit League schedule with an 8-7 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“His first outing. We’re not worried about him,” manager John Gibbons said soothingly of Sanchez, who suffered from his own and others’ mistakes.

The Jays have 31 more exhibition games to get it right.

Kevin Pillar homered for Toronto, which made it close with two runs in the eighth and another in the ninth when the Jays had the bases loaded.

The Blue Jays’ Marcus Stroman, centre, talks with his mother Adelin Auffanc before the game against the Pirates on Tuesday. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

Pedro Alvarez, Jung Ho Kang and Elias Diaz homered for the Pirates, who led 6-0 early and outhit the Jays 14-11.

Gibbons preferred to see the positives in a predictably sloppy spring training opener that saw both teams empty their benches.

“We made a run at them … we had a lot of opportunities but we couldn’t really cash in,” he said. “But the guys hung tough.”

Dalton Pompey, competing for the Jays’ open centre-fielder spot, engineered a run in the third when he singled, stole second, took third on a sacrifice fly and scored on a groundout.

With left field open for the time being due to Michael Saunders’ knee injury, Gibbons switched Pompey to left and Pillar to centre in the fifth. Pompey responded with an acrobatic catch but then lost a fly ball that dropped in for a double and scored a run.

Reliever Wilton Lopez provided the Jays’ only 1-2-3 inning, in the seventh. And six-foot-five beanpole Miguel Castro yielded only a single in an effective eighth inning.

“First time out there, he made it look easy,” Gibbons said of the 20-year-old Castro. “I thought Lopez looked good too.”

The three-hour 17-minute contest was the Jays’ first under Major League Baseball’s push to shorten games, with a clock in the outfield counting down time between innings.

“I didn’t even notice it really,” Gibbons said of the changes.

Sanchez finished last season as Toronto’s closer but is being given the chance to earn a regular spot in the rotation.

Five runs (two earned) in 1 ⅓ innings proved to be a tough start for Sanchez, who did not give up an earned run in six spring training games last year. He exited after 10 batters Tuesday.

“Just today wasn’t my day,” said the 22-year-old Sanchez, who was keeping his outing in perspective. “But I can learn from that.”

It started well for the Jays with two fine fielding plays. First Sanchez stabbed a Jeff Decker liner aimed at his head. Then, off-balance after fielding the ball near home plate, Martin threw out Sean Rodriguez. A two-out error by third baseman Josh

Toronto Blue Jays starter Aaron Sanchez, and catcher Russell Martin make a play on a ball on Tuesday. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

Donaldson left men on first and second, however, and Alvarez punished Sanchez with a three-run homer.

“It’s spring training for everybody,” said Sanchez. “You can’t go out there and rely on guys making plays and (umpires) making calls, you’ve got to make your pitches and I didn’t do that today.”

A Decker double in the second drove in two more runs and ended Sanchez’s afternoon on a sunny 25-degree day before 4,593 at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

Pittsburgh starter Casey Sadler, who went 11-4 with a 3.03 earned-run average last season with Class-AAA Indianapolis before being called up, faced just six batters in his two innings with a Donaldson double play erasing a walk.

The Pirates went deep into the alphabet with their pitchers, showcasing Stolmy Pimentel, Arquimedes Caminero and Bobby LaFromboise among others.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/sanchez-hit-hard-in-jays-spring-training-opener-against-pirates/feed0Aaron SanchezthecanadianpressToronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman, centre, talks with his mother Adelin Auffanc, second right, before playing against the Pittsburgh Pirates during first inning Grapefruit League baseball action in Dunedin, Fla., on Tuesday, March 3, 2015. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Aaron Sanchez, and catcher Russell Martin make a play on a ball on Tuesday. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)Vernon Wells shares experience with Blue Jays as guest coachhttp://o.canada.com/sports/vernon-wells-shares-experience-with-blues-jays-as-guest-coach
http://o.canada.com/sports/vernon-wells-shares-experience-with-blues-jays-as-guest-coach#commentsTue, 03 Mar 2015 15:43:07 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=595236&preview_id=595236]]>DUNEDIN, Fla. — Former outfielder Vernon Wells was back in uniform for the Blue Jays on Tuesday, this time as a guest coach.

With Toronto looking to 22-year-old Canadian Dalton Pompey to fill the void in centre field, Wells’ three-day coaching stint this week should pay dividends.

“I think he’s kind of in position right now where it’s kind of his spot to lose,” said Wells. “With that mentality, you’ve kind of got to go out and try to dominate every day. I’ve been in that position and it’s a fun position to be in, but you can’t take for granted the work that you need to put in to excel.

“It’s not a matter of winning this job. It’s a matter of trying to be the best centre-fielder you can be in the American League.”

Wells, 36, believes players get to the major leagues quicker these years, perhaps missing some teaching as a result.

He cites Carlos Delgado as one of his mentors, helping educate him about hitters and pitchers.

In working with young players, Wells can draw on his own experience. Just 20 when he made the majors in 1999, he says he thought he had it all figured out.

“I got sent down (the next year) and I pouted pretty much all of 2000, which wasn’t the right way to handle it,” he said.

He was demoted again the next year, but handled it better when he realized it was more about the number of outfielders Toronto had.

“So for me, going through the year of the struggle was good,” he said. “I tell kids now … it’s not a matter of failure, you’re going to fail. It’s how you respond to that failure is what kind of defines you as a person, as an athlete.”

Wells called Pompey “a good kid” who is willing to learn.

“For him, it’s just going to be a matter of ‘Relax. Absorb the information that’s coming to you. And try to make it work as quick as possible.”‘

Wells was released by the Yankees in January 2014 with one year left on the $126-million US, seven-year contract he signed with the Jays prior to the 2008 season.

He says continuing his career was “talked about, prayed about” before deciding to be a stay-at-home dad. He has missed the three hours of game play each day but not much else.

Wells, who still looks like he’s in game shape, finished with a .270 career batting average, 270 home runs and 958 RBIs in a 15-year, 1,731-game career that included brief stops with the Angels and Yankees after 12 seasons with the Jays.

“It’s good to have this uniform back on,” Wells said of his Jays’ blue. “Unfortunately I had to take it off for a few years but it’s good to be back here.”

Away from baseball, Wells says he is busier than ever these days thanks to the Vernon Wells Perfect 10 non-profit organization he and wife Charlene established to help children in need.

“My wife’s schedule, it’s impressive,” he said.

Based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, he also coaches their nine and 12-year-old sons’ baseball teams.

The 25-year-old Cuban, released by the White Sox in early February, will be given a chance to show he belongs somewhere on the depth chart.

“He’s got some power, a right-handed bat,” said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. “Has played some third (base) in his career, played some first. Certainly played the outfield and we’ll just take a look at him for the month of March and see what we have.”

On Thursday, the Jays signed former Cy Young Award-winner Johan Santana to another minor-league deal. Santana, sidelined by shoulder and Achilles injuries, last threw in the majors in 2012.

Both players would get a pro-rated US$2.5-million, one-year deal if they make the team, with Santana also getting performance bonuses. The minor league rate is $20,000 a month.

Viciedo signed a $10-million, four-year deal with the White Sox in December 2008. He settled on a one-year $4.4-million contract in arbitration earlier this year but was cut loose with Chicago looking to former Jay Melky Cabrera in left field.

The five-foot-11, 240-pound Cuban batted .231 last season with 21 home runs and 58 RBIs. He had 122 strikeouts and 32 walks in 523 at-bats and is not known for his outfield defence.

Viciedo gives the Jays another option in left field with Michael Saunders out for five to six weeks after undergoing surgery to remove his meniscus. But given Saunders’ expected early return date, Viciedo may have a better shot of sticking elsewhere, with Anthopoulos saying first base/DH is “the most wide open spot in terms of competition.”

The Jays have talked of giving Edwin Encarnacion, who plays both positions, more time at designated hitter to save his body. Justin Smoak, Daric Barton and Matt Hague are other first base options.

Viciedo hit well against left-handers earlier in his career (.350 against left-handers and .225 against right-handers in 2012) but his splits have narrowed since. He hit .221 against lefties and .235 against righties last season.

Viciedo is scheduled to have a medical Monday and take the field Tuesday.

“I think the big thing is we want to see how he hits,” Anthopoulos said.

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista looks back and doesn’t much like what he sees.

“It’s been a disappointment for me, on the players’ side, that we haven’t done a better job playing baseball and it’s led to the seasons that we’ve had,” he said Friday after Toronto’s first full workout of the spring.

“We’ve been an average team, comprised of better-than-average players. To me that’s not satisfying to know that I was part of those teams.”

The 34-year-old outfielder, who has remained the Jays’ marquee man through a recent revolving-door influx of big-ticket additions, wonders whether he could have done more.

Still he’s not about to dwell on the past.

“Whatever happened last year and how many days we were in first (place in the AL East) and where we ended up and all that stuff, it’s in the past,” he said. “We just need to focus on this year. We have a much better team in place I feel like and we just need to go after this year.”

One reason for his optimism is the revamped roster around him.

“We might have some guys in here now that are maybe an uptick or two more competitive than some guys that have been here in the past,” he said.

Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista stretches as Blue Jays manager John Gibbons talks to him during baseball spring training in Dunedin, Fla., on Friday, February 27, 2015.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette []

Marquee catcher Russell Martin and third baseman Josh Donaldson have clearly brought more than all-star credentials.

Proven winners, says manager John Gibbons, whose team finished third in the American League East last season with an 83-79 record.

“There’s just something about these guys. They’re energetic,” he said. “We’ve been here a week but they’re bringing things that we’re looking for.”

“This time of year everybody’s optimistic and excited, but I am more so this year than I have been,” he added.

Asked about Donaldson, Bautista said the former Oakland player is “really competitive and he’s not afraid to show it.”

“We need something along those lines here every now and then. It’s good to have guys to whom winning matters and it’s important, and they get to show it with passion when they don’t perform up to their capabilities.”

Bautista said some past Jays teammates had kept their emotions in check.

“You walk around after a loss of a crucial game or a bad beating that you took and sometimes you see people and you don’t know what they’re thinking,” he said. “I’d rather at least know. I can’t say that I can read minds. And I can’t say that I thought that guy didn’t care. But if I don’t know, it makes me think.

“I rather look at you, we got our butts handed to us 10-0 or 9-1, I’d rather be able to see you and your body language and your facial expressions and know that you’re upset that we got our butts kicked. And some people in the past, I can’t say that was there. Without naming any names and it’s not that big of a deal, it’s not what led to the seasons we had.”

“It’s just something nice to see,” he said of the more vocal members of the locker-room.

Surrounded by reporters, Bautista is as much a clubhouse lawyer as he is a baseball player. He’s not keen on inquiries that call for speculation. And no shrinking violet, he will preface an answer with what he thinks of the question.

But he knows his clubhouse.

“Jose’s one of the top players in the game,” said Gibbons. “He’s been around the game. He knows what’s going on out there. So when he speaks, there’s some truth to it.”

Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos said the 28-year-old Canadian was shagging balls Wednesday morning at the club’s training complex when he stepped on a sprinkler head indentation.

“My foot got jammed,” said Saunders, who spoke to the media Thursday morning on crutches. “To be honest, I don’t know exactly how it happened. it stopped me in my tracks and I heard a pop. It was almost like I was scared to find out (what happened).”

Saunders walked off the field and saw the trainer.

Anthopoulos said the six-foot-four 225-pound Saunders will get a second opinion but likely requires surgery to repair a torn meniscus.

Saunders, a six-year veteran who joined Toronto in a December trade that sent pitcher J.A. Happ to Seattle, is expected to be back playing in July although he said he wants to be back earlier.

The Jays had planned an outfield of Saunders in left, Canadian Dalton Pompey or Kevin Pillar in centre and Jose Bautista in right.

Saunders’ left-handed bat will be missed at the plate. He hit .273 with eight home runs and 34 RBIs over 78 games in 2014.

For the Victoria native, it’s a bitter pill to swallow. He reported early to camp to get a headstart.

“Last night was really tough for me, especially when we got the prognosis,” said Saunders. “I’ve got a good support system out here, though.

“I’ve described this to a lot of people that nobody’s more excited to be here than me. For me, I think the biggest thing I will have to overcome now is mentally rather than physically. I know I’m going to be in good hands, I know I’m going to be OK. It could be worse, it’s not an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament).”

Saunders said the pitch was a little wet at the time.

“It was a tiny bit slippery, I just think I stepped in the wrong spot.”

Anthopoulos said the club had not had any similar problems before with its training complex but will look at the sprinkler head issue.

The recessed sprinkler heads move up and down, and are hard to see, he said.

“Just one of those things,” Anthopoulos said. “Bad luck, tough loss but we’ll get through it. He will be back and we can still have him for quite a bit of time.”

The GM said he had already started making calls about possible replacements but said any move would likely come at the end of the spring and would have to be tempered by what happens when Saunders returns.

“Ideally for us the guys that are in that clubhouse are going to take the opportunity. We’d prefer not to go outside,” said Anthopoulos.

Added manager John Gibbons: “We like the guys we have in camp. There are some guys that need some opportunities. We brought them here for a reason. And we’ve got, of course, the internal guys like Pompey and Pillar and those guys. Now’s their chance to shine.”

Outfielder Ezequiel Carrera, a free agent signed from Detroit, is also an option.

Saunders had shoulder surgery in 2007 while a 19-year-old in the minor leagues but has not had knee problems before. He has been frustrated by shoulder and oblique injuries in recent years.

“I will (be) working my ass off to make sure that I’m ready to go as soon as possible,” he said.

“I guess I’ll just get more comfortable the more I catch,” he said. “But so far, so good.”

Josh Thole has been Dickey’s personal catcher since 2010 with the Mets and Jays. But Thole, while appreciated in the clubhouse, has hit .175 and .248 in the last two seasons (102 games) in Toronto.

Martin, a Toronto native who grew up in Chelsea, Que., signed a US$82-million, five-year deal with the Blue Jays last November.

Toronto has gone through this before. Two seasons ago, J.P. Arencibia declared he was ready to handle Dickey’s dancing pitch after spring training but three passed balls on Opening Day told a different story.

“I was able to do it without dropping too many.”

Martin could be heard ooohing and aaahing at Dickey’s knuckleball as cameras clicked behind him Wednesday. Midway through the session, Martin told the 40-year-old right-hander to stop announcing what he was about to throw.

“Don’t even tell me,” he said. “I just want to see how I react.”

Martin did not hang on to every ball. Still he fared pretty well for his first attempt.

“I was able to do it without dropping too many,” Martin said afterwards while acknowledging it was only Day 1.

Dickey praised Martin for his athleticism as well as his curiosity about the pitch, saying he believes the 32-year-old Canadian will be up to the task. But he also said he has a “very deep relationship” with Thole.

Toronto Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin throws the ball in a drill at spring training Wednesday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

“He’s caught over 75 or 80 per cent of my starts since 2010 and I have never seen a guy as good as him,” said Dickey. “It’s hard to contemplate him not catching me. But at the same time that doesn’t mean that he’s the only guy in the world that can catch me. He knows that.

“I wouldn’t be able to play very long if there was only one guy on earth that can catch me. So he (Thole) gets it. He’s a pro.”

Thole showed that Wednesday, offering suggestions as he chatted with Martin and bullpen catcher Alex Andreopoulos immediately after the session. Thole also lent Martin his glove, which originally came from Dickey.

Martin joked he may have to throw a new glove into a microwave, or put a softball inside and sleep on it, to get that soft, worked-in feel.

Toronto Blue Jays players warm up during spring training in Dunedin, Fla. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Thole wasn’t always adept at handling the knuckleball. He recalls dropping the first three Dickey deliveries he faced in the Mets bullpen in 2010, with the manager, general manager and owner looking on.

It may not be a baseball bromance but Dickey and Martin have made a point of getting to know each other at camp. They chatted while playing catch on a back field Tuesday, discussing the finer points of the knuckleball.

Martin, whose locker stall is next to Dickey’s, clearly relishes the task at hand.

“When I’m in the lineup, I feel like I can help the team win,” he said. “I don’t want just because it’s Dickey pitching today that I’m not playing.”

He was awarded $4.3 million on Friday by Steven Wolf, Robert Herzog and Gary Kendellen rather than his $5.75 million request.

The 29-year-old Donaldson hit .255 with 29 home runs and 98 RBIs in 158 games last season for Oakland and was traded to Toronto in December for third baseman Brett Lawrie, left-hander Sean Nolin, right-hander Kendall Graveman and minor league shortstop Franklin Barreto.

In four seasons in the majors with the A’s, Donaldson has a .268 average with 63 homers and 228 RBIs.

He earned the $500,000 minimum last year and was eligible for arbitration for the first time.

Teams lead players 5-3, with the remaining seven cases scheduled for next week. The eight hearings are the most since clubs went 5-3 in 2010. There have not been more since teams were 8-6 in 2001.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/josh-donaldson-loses-salary-arbitration-case-against-toronto-blue-jays-awarded-4-3m/feed0Wild Card Game - Oakland Athletics v Kansas City RoyalstheassociatedpresscanadaAlex Anthopoulos promises offensive Toronto Blue Jays lineuphttp://o.canada.com/sports/alex-anthopoulos-promises-offensive-toronto-blue-jays-lineup
http://o.canada.com/sports/alex-anthopoulos-promises-offensive-toronto-blue-jays-lineup#commentsFri, 06 Feb 2015 17:26:31 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=589610]]>TORONTO — Conventional wisdom says this is a do-or-die year for Alex Anthopoulos, that if he cannot lead the Toronto Blue Jays to the playoffs after six years of trying, his head will roll.

The general manager claims, however, that no one above him in the chain of command has ever told him that, and that he is blissfully unworried about losing his job.

So as he goes about his daily business, job security is not an issue when he considers whether to make one deal or another, he insists.

Toronto Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos stressed that he would never even be tempted to make a deal that sacrifices the team’s future for his own job security. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

“No, no,” Anthopoulos answered hastily when asked if he feels like he’s under the gun. “It’s never been positioned to me that way, ever.

“These jobs are not about the person or the individual. You’re a steward for the ball club. We’re always focused on the short and the long term. We could easily trade a bunch of our young players for guys that are going to be free agents and players that are three and four years away, but we don’t feel that’s the right thing for the ball club. That’s what your job entails, doing the right thing for the ball club.”

In an interview before the club’s annual State of the Franchise event for season-ticket holders, Anthopoulos discussed the question marks surrounding his team — the bullpen, second base, centre field — and confirmed his faith that the Jays will be an offensive powerhouse, regardless of who plays second and centre.

And he stressed that he would never even be tempted to make a deal that sacrifices the team’s future for his own job security.

It was hardly a surprising assertion. What else would he say to such a question? But as he enters the final year of his contract, his comments were consistent with those he has made from the day he took over the GM’s job in October 2009 following the ouster of his mentor, J.P. Ricciardi.

Part of his inspiration, he said, comes from the writings of U.S. business mogul Warren Buffett.

Aaron Sanchez could be the Jays’ closer this season. (Allen McInnis/Postmedia News)

“I admire him a lot,” Anthopoulos said. “I read a lot of his work, not because I invest in stocks, I don’t invest in any. He talks about integrity being the pillar of any hire that he makes. It’s the No. 1 thing. You can define it any way that you want, but in this role, it’s ultimately doing what’s right for the ball club, not doing what’s right for someone’s career. If you stick to that simple formula, you still want to make the right decisions, but you’re not conflicted at all.”

If he faces conflicts, one might be how to fill the closer’s role left vacant by free agent Casey Janssen, who recently signed with the Washington Nationals. The Jays never tried to bring Janssen back.

Both Anthopoulos and manager John Gibbons said Thursday that either veteran left-hander Brett Cecil or 22-year-old phenom Aaron Sanchez could be the closer. And if the GM and manager had to pick a role for Sanchez today, he would be in the bullpen.

“But it’s going to come down to what serves the team best.”

“At this moment, yeah, he did a great job (as a reliever),” Anthopoulos said. “He did it last year and he did it well. That frees up Brett as the lefty to come in in the middle of an inning and things like that. Certainly we’re a stronger bullpen (with Sanchez) based on the results we saw last year. But that’ll depend on how (Marco) Estrada throws the ball, and how (Daniel) Norris throws the ball in spring training.”

Meaning that if Estrada, newly arrived from Milwaukee in the Adam Lind trade, and rookie southpaw Norris make strong bids for rotation spots in spring training, it would be easier to keep Sanchez in the bullpen, where he posted a 1.09 ERA in 24 games last year.

Sanchez remains projected as a starter. He wants to start this year and will be treated as a rotation candidate at start of spring training.

Josh Donaldson gives the Jays another power bat. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

“But it’s going to come down to what serves the team best,” Gibbons said.

Both Anthopoulos and Gibbons acknowledged the challenge of auditioning as many as five second-base candidates and choosing between rookie Dalton Pompey and the slightly more experienced Kevin Pillar in centre field. The winner in those sweepstakes will be the players who show they can hit in spring training, the GM said.

But Anthopoulos believes the additions of Josh Donaldson, Russell Martin and Michael Saunders to a lineup that already features Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Reyes means the offence will be strong and able to compensate for any production frailties at second base and centre field.

Much as fans would like it, no GM can create a perfect lineup, Anthopoulos said.

“Ideally, you’re nine-deep and everyone stays healthy. That’s not going to be the case. We’re going to need some guys to step up and emerge. That’s part of it. I think every club is going to have that (challenge).”

Meanwhile, he said his biggest off-season trades prove that he continues to balance the team’s short- and long-term viability, without regard for his own job.

“We traded (J.A.) Happ with a year of control left for two years of Saunders, and we traded some of our kids for four years of control of Josh Donaldson,” he said. “We like Josh Donaldson, but we’re not trading for him if he’s a free agent a year from now.”

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/alex-anthopoulos-promises-offensive-toronto-blue-jays-lineup/feed1Russell Martin; Alex Anthopoulospostmedianews1Toronto Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos answers questions at Spring Training in Dunedin, Fla. on Thursday February 20, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn ORG XMIT: FNG102Aaron Sanchez is regarded as one of the Toronto Blue Jays top prospects. (Allen McInnis/Postmedia News)KANSAS CITY, MO - SEPTEMBER 30: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Oakland Athletics celebrates after Brandon Moss #37 of the Oakland Athletics hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning against the Kansas City Royals during the American League Wild Card game at Kauffman Stadium on September 30, 2014 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)Blue Jays president Paul Beeston wants all-star game in Toronto … and to stop talking about Rogers’ treatment of himhttp://o.canada.com/sports/blue-jays-president-paul-beeston-wants-all-star-game-in-toronto-and-to-stop-talking-about-rogers-treatment-of-him
http://o.canada.com/sports/blue-jays-president-paul-beeston-wants-all-star-game-in-toronto-and-to-stop-talking-about-rogers-treatment-of-him#commentsFri, 06 Feb 2015 20:13:12 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=589682]]>TORONTO – Entering his final year on the job, Blue Jays president Paul Beeston is trying to bring another all-star game to Toronto, grow grass in the Rogers Centre and put a playoff team on the stadium’s new artificial turf.

And based on his comments Thursday night, he is done answering questions about what happened to him during the past three months.

Questions like this one, asked by a Postmedia News reporter: How could owner Rogers Communications have been negotiating your contract extension in good faith since October when they were actively trying to get rid of you at the same time? They first wanted Kenny Williams to take your job, then they wanted Dan Duquette, and now they want us to believe they also wanted to extend your contract?

Edward Rogers was supposedly was “elated” Paul Beeston is sticking around for another season before retiring at the end of October. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

“I don’t want to get into that,” Beeston replied after taking part in the traditional feel-good ambiance of the Jays’ State of the Franchise event for season-ticket holders.

“I used the line, and I don’t mean to be smart when I say it: What happened happened, what didn’t happen didn’t happen, we are where we are right now, and that’s what the end result’s going to be.”

What happened was that Jays chairman Edward Rogers contacted the White Sox about Williams and the Orioles about Duquette and failed to land either one. Then, late last month, in a Rogers release, Edward Rogers quoted himself as saying he had been talking to Beeston about an extension since his last contract expired Oct. 31, and now, suddenly, “make no mistake,” Rogers was “elated” Beeston is sticking around for another season before retiring at the end of October.

Beeston has admitted that the past few months were tough as he endured the rumours, received calls of concern and support from friends and tried to keep a steady hand on the day-to-day operations of the baseball club and the stadium.

“One of the things that happened in the last 2½ months was the warmth of the people, whether it was walking down the street, whether it was in an airplane or whether it was in a bar . . . probably the latter more than the others.”

“I operated on the basis that (my job) was a going concern and I had a responsibility, and I tried to give them an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay, and we moved forward and we did what we had to do,” he said. “So I’m not going to get into what happened. I’m just happy to be here — happy to be here for the year.”

And that was clearly all he was prepared to say about that. Meanwhile, he was pleased to report he had spoken to new commissioner Rob Manfred this week about putting Toronto in the queue for an all-star game in the next few years. The only time the game was held here was 1991, two years after the SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) opened.

“We haven’t talked about a year,” Beeston said. “All we’ve talked about is the fact that we are interested and we will be making a proposal.”

The Jays also signed a contract Thursday that will launch research at the University of Guelph into the species of grass that is most likely to grow well indoors at the Rogers Centre.

The University of Guelph will help the Jays decide whether they can handle — and afford — the engineering challenges required to put grass on the stadium floor at Rogers Centre. Peter Redman/Postmedia News

“It’s pretty exciting from our point of view,” Beeston said. “We’ve had many discussions but now it’s to the point where we’re actually going forward.”

The biggest challenge, he said, will be handling the airflow required to accommodate the grass, and especially to blow away the humidity that accumulates when the grass “sweats.”

Guelph will submit research updates over the next year and a final report next February. The Jays will then decide whether they can handle — and afford — the engineering challenges required to put grass on the stadium floor by opening day 2018.

While the hubbub surrounding his job made his life difficult, Beeston said be was buoyed by the support he received from friends and fans.

“One of the things that happened in the last 2½ months was the warmth of the people, whether it was walking down the street, whether it was in an airplane or whether it was in a bar . . . probably the latter more than the others,” he said with his trademark chuckle. “The reality of the situation is that I had a lot of support, and from the point of view of the team I think everyone believes in the team. So I was gratified.”

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/blue-jays-president-paul-beeston-wants-all-star-game-in-toronto-and-to-stop-talking-about-rogers-treatment-of-him/feed0BBA-Blue-Jays-Beeston-20150126.jpgpostmedianews1TORONTO, CANADA - APRIL 4: President Paul Beeston of the Toronto Blue Jays is interviewed before MLB game action against the New York Yankees on April 4, 2014 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)NATIONAL POST STAFF PHOTO // 04/03/2006 TORONTO .. On the day before season's home opener for the Blue Jays the team is on the turf at Rogers Centre 04-03-2006 practising before they meet Minnesota Twins here 04-04-2006.. .. ...National Post staff photo / Peter Redman. SportsBlue Jays acquire left-handed pitcher Jayson Aquino from Coloradohttp://o.canada.com/sports/baseball/blue-jays-acquire-left-handed-pitcher-jayson-aquino-from-colorado
http://o.canada.com/sports/baseball/blue-jays-acquire-left-handed-pitcher-jayson-aquino-from-colorado#commentsWed, 04 Feb 2015 23:42:12 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=589109&preview_id=589109]]>TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays acquired left-handed pitcher Jayson Aquino from the Colorado Rockies Wednesday in exchange for left-hander Tyler Ybarra.

The 22-year-old Aquino combined to post a 5-10 record with a 5.13 earned-run average in 18 starts for class-A Modesto and double-A Tulsa.

Ybarra, 25, posted a 4-4 record with a 4.42 ERA in 38 relief appearances with double-A New Hampshire.

The Blue Jays designated infielder Chris Colabello for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Aquino.

“Each of our 2015 inductees has made significant contributions to the history of baseball in our country and they continue to be great ambassadors for the game,” Hall of Fame director of operations Scott Crawford said in a release. “We’re proud and excited to celebrate their careers in St. Marys this June.”

Delgado became a regular with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1996 and went on to set several franchise records over the next nine seasons. He had eight straight 30-homer campaigns with Toronto and finished second in American League MVP voting in 2003.

Delgado, who also played for the Florida Marlins and New York Mets, finished his 17-year career with 473 home runs and 1,512 RBIs.

“I’m very honoured and humbled to be selected into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame,” said Delgado. “This is unbelievable news. I always say that you do not play the game for the awards, but if at the end of the day you get that recognition from your fans and peers, it means a lot. And this is extra special to me because of the relationship that I have with the Toronto Blue Jays and their fans all across Canada.”

Koskie, a native of Anola, Man., was named to the Topps 1999 All-Star Rookie team after an impressive debut season with the Minnesota Twins. He had a breakout season in 2001 when he became the only third baseman in American League history to record at least 100 runs, 25 homers, 100 RBIs and 25 stolen bases in a season.

Felipe Alou was part of the Expos organization as a player, instructor or manager for 27 of its 36 years of existence. Todd Warshaw /Allsport

Koskie helped Minnesota reach the playoffs from 2002 through 2004. He also had brief stints with the Blue Jays and Milwaukee Brewers over his nine-year big-league career and played for Canada in the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classics.

Stairs, a native of Saint John, N.B., hit 265 homers over 19 seasons in the major leagues. He started his career with the Montreal Expos, spent parts of two seasons in Toronto and made several appearances on the national team.

Alou was part of the Expos organization as a player, instructor or manager for 27 of its 36 years of existence. The three-time all-star had 2,101 career hits and moved into the coaching ranks in 1976 after an 18-year playing career.

He became the first Dominican manager in major league history when the Expos named him skipper in May 1992. Alou spent parts of 10 seasons as Expos manager and was named National League manager of the year in 1994.

Alou later worked as a bench coach with the Detroit Tigers and served as manager of the San Francisco Giants from 2003 to 2006. He has worked as a special assistant to Giants general manager Brian Sabean since 2007.

Elliott, a native of Kingston, Ont., was a regular in the Expos’ press box until joining the Toronto Sun as the Blue Jays beat writer in 1987. In 2010, Elliott was honoured with the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s Jack Graney Award and he became the first Canadian recipient of the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s J.G. Taylor Spink Award in 2012.

Elliott, now the Toronto Sun’s baseball columnist, has also penned three books and is the founder of the Canadian Baseball Network website, which tracks the top Canadian draft candidates, college players and minor-league players.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/delgado-koskie-stairs-alou-elliott-to-enter-canadian-baseball-hall-of-fame/feed0Red Sox v Blue JaysthecanadianpressToronto Blue Jays Carlos Delgado is congratulated by his teammates in the dougout after scoring on a Tony Batista sacrifice fly to left field during the fourth inning against the Detroit Tigers in Detroit, Michigan, 26 May 2000. (Electronic Image) AFP Photo/Jeff KOWALSKY / JAYS' CARLOS DELGADO IS CONGRATULATED AFTER SCORING ON TONY BATISTA'S SAC FLY LAST NIGHT.4 May 1997: Manager Felipe Alou of the Montreal Expos sits in the dugout during a game against the San Diego Padres at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. The Expos won the game 9-3. Mandatory Credit: Todd Warshaw /AllsportToronto Blue Jayshttp://o.canada.com/discussions/blue-jays
http://o.canada.com/discussions/blue-jays#commentsSat, 24 Mar 2012 12:00:32 +0000http://staging.wp.canada.com/?post_type=discussion&p=1992]]>The Toronto Blue Jays are doing some shopping and trading during a busy off-season.]]>http://o.canada.com/discussions/blue-jays/feed0Daniel NorristhecanadadotcomOpen road leads Toronto Blue Jays top prospect Daniel Norris to peace, spring traininghttp://o.canada.com/sports/open-road-leads-toronto-blue-jays-top-prospect-daniel-norris-to-peace-spring-training
http://o.canada.com/sports/open-road-leads-toronto-blue-jays-top-prospect-daniel-norris-to-peace-spring-training#commentsTue, 03 Feb 2015 17:09:56 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=588174&preview_id=588174]]>Blue Jays pitching prospect Daniel Norris has had plenty of time to reflect on his 2014 season. That’s one of the perks of living alone in a van for weeks at a time.

The 21-year-old left-hander, who rose through three minor-league levels last year before making his major league debut in September, spends most of the off-season driving on the open road, camping in the mountains, and surfing on the ocean waves — all while living out of a 1978 Volkswagen Westfalia microbus.

The large, mustard-coloured vehicle, which Norris named Shaggy, remains one of the only major purchases from the US$2-million signing bonus the Blue Jays gave him in 2011 after selecting him in the second round of that year’s draft.

“I do it to be alone and to find peace within myself,” Norris said from Toronto’s spring training complex in Dunedin, Fla. “I love my teammates and family but I’m not the kind of person who likes to be around a ton of people. I’m a thinker, I like to be alone with my thoughts.

“When I’m out there, it’s just me, Shaggy and God and I can really connect with myself. It’s very peaceful.”

For the past three years, Norris has fashioned a tradition out of driving from his home in Johnson City, Tenn., to Dunedin, stretching the 1,100-kilometre trek as long as he can.

He cooks meals on a backpacking stove — chicken stir fry is his specialty — and stops wherever he pleases along the way.

“Depending on where I am, there’s a lot of surfing, a lot of just hanging out,” Norris said. “I like to explore so sometimes I’ll just stop at the side of the road and look around. There’s no plan involved.”

Love of the outdoors runs in the Norris family.

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Daniel Norris spends most of the off-season driving on the open road, camping in the mountains, and surfing on the ocean waves all while living out of a 1978 Volkswagen Westfalia microbus. [Katherine Williams/THE CANADIAN PRESS]

With Great Smoky Mountain National Park just 116 km down the highway from his childhood home, Daniel’s parents, David and Sandra, would take their kids on frequent camping excursions.

David Norris sells and repairs bicycles out of his shop in Johnson City. Melanie, Daniel’s sister, had her wedding ceremony — complete with a camp-out style reception — in the North Carolina mountains last summer.

“It’s always been a part of me and that’s definitely what kickstarted my interest,” Norris said. “But I’ve tried to take it to the next level over the years.”

Norris has gained increasing notoriety for his dedication to outdoor living.

A photo he tweeted of himself shaving his thick beard with an axe caused a stir earlier this year. Though the shot was staged for a modelling gig — he hasn’t even taken a razor to his facial hair since October — it helped solidify Norris’ persona as a rugged woodsman.

His long hair, which he’s been wearing in a bun at the top of his head, and his wide array of flannel and denim shirts all add to that image.

That’s not exactly how he wants to be seen, though.

“It doesn’t necessarily bother me, but all the attention is surprising,” said Norris. “I’d rather be known for being the best baseball player I can be — that’s my passion, that’s my dream.

“All this other stuff, I think it’s important because people want to know who they’re cheering for, so I can agree with it in that sense. I want people to know who I really am and that’s what’s being portrayed.”

While not everyone understands Norris’s Mountain Man lifestyle, the Blue Jays say they don’t have a problem with their top prospect’s off-season adventures.

“We trust that Daniel is taking care of himself and will be ready for spring training … ” assistant GM Tony LaCava said in an email to The Canadian Press. “Everyone prepares for the season their own way and based on the success to date in his career, I’m not sure I would want Daniel to change a thing.”

Norris has been in Dunedin since Jan. 15 and will continue to live in his van until Feb. 22 when he officially reports to the major league side of camp for the first time.

This spring, Norris will compete against right-handers Aaron Sanchez and Marco Estrada for the fifth spot in the big league rotation, but a bullpen job could be up for grabs as well.

“I had so much fun in the big leagues, I just want to get back there,” he said. “Obviously I want to start, but if it comes down to me heading to the bullpen to help Toronto win games then heck yeah, I’m down. …

“Best case scenario: Sanchez and I have the best spring training we can and we make it a really tough decision for the Blue Jays.”

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]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/open-road-leads-toronto-blue-jays-top-prospect-daniel-norris-to-peace-spring-training/feed0Daniel NorristhecanadianpressToronto Blue Jays pitcher Daniel Norris spends most of the off-season driving on the open road, camping in the mountains, and surfing on the ocean waves all while living out of a 1978 Volkswagen Westfalia microbus.Daniel Norris throws against David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.Toronto Blue Jays sign veteran infielder Ramon Santiago to minor-league dealhttp://o.canada.com/sports/toronto-blue-jays-sign-veteran-infielder-ramon-santiago-to-minor-league-deal
http://o.canada.com/sports/toronto-blue-jays-sign-veteran-infielder-ramon-santiago-to-minor-league-deal#commentsFri, 30 Jan 2015 17:11:29 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=586470&preview_id=586470]]>TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays signed veteran infielder Ramon Santiago to a minor-league contract Friday with an invite to major-league spring training.

Santiago, 35, played in 75 games for the Cincinnati Reds last season. He had a .246 batting average with two homers and 17 RBIs.

He has also played for the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners over his 13-year career.

Three months after Toronto Blue Jays president Paul Beeston let it be known he intended to be back with the team for the 2015 season, the club has made it official, signing the 69-year-old to a one-year extension and announcing at the same time that he will retire at the conclusion of it.

All that business in the middle few months? The phone calls to Chicago about Ken Williams and the similar entreaties to Baltimore about Dan Duquette, which turned into weeks of protracted negotiations and haggling about compensation?

Dan Duquette is under contract with the Baltimore Orioles for four more years. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Just “rumours flying about,” says Edward Rogers, chairman of the team and deputy chairman of the company that owns it and bears his family name. “It would have been inappropriate to comment on such matters publicly,” he also says. Never you mind about that messy stuff, in other words. Beeston is back, and Rogers is thrilled about it. “Elated,” even.

This statement conveniently sidesteps the fact it would have been wholly appropriate for someone at Rogers to comment on such matters had there been nothing to those “rumours.” It would have been blessedly easy: “We are working on a contract extension with Paul, look forward to having him return, and will have an announcement at the appropriate time.” And, just for the sake of clarity: “Suggestions that we are in pursuit of an executive currently under working for a division rival are unfounded.”

Boom, done. Onward.

But no such thing was said, neither by the Blue Jays nor from the other end with Duquette, who was said by reports out of Baltimore to want the Toronto job. Either side could have shot the story down. Neither side did. It was not just rumours.

Beeston, in an interview on Rogers-owned Sportsnet radio in Toronto on Tuesday morning, was asked if it was true he was blindsided by reports that Edward Rogers was actively searching for his replacement, even after he had said he intended to return, which if nothing else was a rather unceremonious way to treat someone who was the club’s first employee.

The Blue Jays will head into 2015 with a president set to retire and a general manager on an expiring deal.

“There’s no benefit to discussing any of that,” Beeston responded. I’m going to go ahead and mark that response down as a “yes.”

In the end, then, someone in the Rogers corporate hierarchy — we’ll stick with Edward himself, since no one will say otherwise — went off on a now-aborted quest to land someone who would be installed as the new Blue Jays boss. Unfortunately for Toronto’s ownership, settling on someone who was under contract for four more years in Duquette proved to be a considerable challenge, since Orioles owner Peter Angelos was unwilling to let his general manager walk to a rival for anything less than a huge ransom. And so Beeston is back, for a bit, but the questions raised by the last few months of uncertainty remain largely unanswered.

One of the curious elements of the Duquette pursuit is that he is a personnel guy who has made his reputation in baseball as someone who finds talented players, even with limited resources. Installing him at the top of your organizational chart makes a lot of sense in a vacuum, but it would also appear to considerably undermine the decision-making autonomy of an existing general manager, particularly one in the last year of his contract, as is Alex Anthopoulos with the Blue Jays.

The Baltimore perspective on the Duquette-to-Toronto move was that he wasn’t coming here to schmooze season-ticket holders and figure out how to grow grass in the Rogers Centre. He was coming to be the guy in charge of the team, including who was on the roster.

Toronto Blue Jays president Paul Beeston, right, and general manager Alex Anthopoulos could both be on their way out after the 2015 season. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Was the move for Duquette a signal that Rogers had already decided on a post-Anthopoulos regime? If so, it was odd timing since Anthopoulos spent the early part of the off-season making win-now moves such as the signing of Russell Martin and the trade for Josh Donaldson. More significantly, it was the moves Anthopoulos didn’t make: hanging onto Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion as both enter the final years of their contracts (with team options for 2016) instead of trading for pitching help or prospects. Had a new personnel-oriented president been brought in last fall, when Beeston’s contract expired, that boss might well have pushed for more of a rebuild.

Instead, the Blue Jays will head into 2015 with a president set to retire and a general manager on an expiring deal. What happens if the team, a borderline playoff contender, hits a bad stretch that makes the post-season unlikely, as happened early in the spring of 2013 and the summer of 2014? Would Rogers let Anthopoulos preside over a sale of assets to commence a rebuild? Wouldn’t you want the new guy to be in place for that? Or if the Jays actually exceed expectations — hey, could happen — would ownership allow Anthopoulos to make a play for a costly final roster piece? Wouldn’t you want the new guy to be in place for that?

You would, of course, except Rogers — surprise! — isn’t talking about the succession plan any further. Neither is Beeston, saying on Sportsnet the organization hadn’t had those discussions yet. Fair enough: they did just sign him to the extension.

So the long-term picture is very unclear, but Toronto fans can take solace in the fact ownership didn’t cave to Baltimore’s demands and give up valuable top prospects for a new executive. That’s a bonus.

And, hey, these are Toronto sports, where “it could have been worse” is a clear victory.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/toronto-blue-jays-long-term-plan-remains-cloudy-after-president-paul-beeston-given-contract-extension/feed1BBA-Blue-Jays-Beeston-20150126.jpgscottmstinsonBOSTON, MA - APRIL 18: Dan Duquette, general manager of the Baltimore Orioles, watches batting practice before a game with the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on April 18, 2014 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)Toronto Blue Jays President and CEO Paul Beeston, right, and general manager Alex Anthopoulos talk as they watch the Blue Jays during baseball spring training in Dunedin, Fla., on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette ORG XMIT: NSD106Paul Beeston will remain Toronto Blue Jays president through 2015 seasonhttp://o.canada.com/sports/baseball/paul-beeston-will-remain-toronto-blue-jays-president-through-2015-season
http://o.canada.com/sports/baseball/paul-beeston-will-remain-toronto-blue-jays-president-through-2015-season#commentsTue, 27 Jan 2015 00:02:16 +0000https://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=584238&preview_id=584238]]>TORONTO — After months of speculation, the Toronto Blue Jays announced Monday that longtime president Paul Beeston will be returning for one more year.

Beeston signed a contract extension with the club and plans to retire at the end of the 2015 campaign, team owner Rogers Communications said in a release.

Beeston’s contract expired in October, and there was uncertainty about whether or not he would be back with several media reports claiming the Blue Jays were looking for his replacement.

Jays chairman Edward Rogers said the team had been in discussions about Beeston’s future since his contract ended.

“There were many rumours flying about, but it would have been inappropriate to comment on such matters publicly,” Rogers said. “Make no mistake — we are elated to have Paul continue to lead the team for this season.”

Paul Beeston chose Alex Anthopoulos to be the Blue Jays general manager in 2009. [THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette]

His successor will start when he retires, the release said.

“We will not be commenting on the succession process or timing,” Rogers said.

The 69-year-old Beeston was the first Blue Jays employee in 1976 and has been with the ball club for 31 years, winning two World Series titles with the team.

“I love this ball club and the fans,” said Beeston. “I wake up every day thinking about the game and bringing another championship north of the border. I’m excited for the season ahead — we’ve got a great group of guys who are fiercely competitive and hope to be playing ball in October.”

Toronto made a splash in the off-season by adding Canadian catcher Russell Martin and third baseman Josh Donaldson to an already potent lineup. However the strength and depth of the bullpen remains the biggest question mark moving forward. The Blue Jays are without a proven closer at the moment after parting ways with Casey Janssen.

Beeston, a native of Welland, Ont., was named team president and chief operating officer in 1989 and chief executive officer in 1991. The Blue Jays won World Series titles in 1992 and 1993 but haven’t been to the post-season since.

Paul Beeston, President and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays, right, receives a hug from catcher J.P. Arencibia. [THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette]

He left the team in 1997 to serve as chief operating officer in Major League Baseball’s commissioner’s office, holding that role until 2002.

Beeston later returned to the Blue Jays and was named team president and CEO in October 2009 after taking over the day-to-day operations of the club on an interim basis a year earlier after Paul Godfrey’s departure.

General manager J.P. Ricciardi was fired near the end of the 2009 season and Beeston promoted assistant GM Alex Anthopoulos to the position. Together, they presented a long-term vision of a team that would consistently contend.

Anthopoulos went to work by trading longtime ace Roy Halladay, overhauling the scouting and player development system and shuffling the coaching staff.

However, the franchise’s long run of mediocrity has continued. The Blue Jays have either struggled or finished near the .500 mark since the changes were made.

Anthopoulos made his biggest splash after the 2012 season. He acquired Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson in a blockbuster trade with the Miami Marlins and added N.L. Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey in a deal with the New York Mets.

With expectations sky-high, the Blue Jays fell flat and finished the 2013 campaign with a 74-88 mark.

This past season, Toronto enjoyed a solid first half before fading after the all-star break. The Blue Jays settled for an 83-79 record and third-place finish in the American League East.

But Atlanta is playing at an entirely different level now, and trounced the Raptors with clinical precision, and strength at every position.

“(Horford) is healthier, the ball is clicking well, and one of the other things is they’re making shots, they’re better defensively, they’re tied in, they’ve just gotten better being together from that standpoint,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said pre-game. “They’ve just kind of clicked, they’re just in that groove right now that’s impressive.”

The Raptors began the night trailing the East-leading Hawks by four-and-a-half games, in third place.

They knew they were in for a rough night against the league’s hottest team, which had also clobbered Washington — one of the East’s top teams — last week. They weren’t wrong as the Raptors trailed almost from the opening whistle, fell behind by as many as 24 points in the third quarter, and went into the fourth down 85-68.

A basket by Lowry on Toronto’s first possession cut the difference to 15 points. But the Hawks quickly snuffed out any hopes of a Raptors’ comeback, taking a 26-point lead on a bucket by Paul Millsap with 5:45 to play in front of a disgruntled Air Canada Centre crowd of 19,800 that included Toronto FC’s newest acquisition Jozy Altidore and Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista.

The ugliness continued and by the time Greivis Vasquez drained a three with 1:26 to go to cut Toronto’s deficit to 19 points, many fans had already left the building.

Casey talked pre-game about the importance of protecting the ball, but the message seemingly went unheard by his players, who had already coughed up the ball 14 times before halftime. They would give up 24 points on 19 giveaways overall.

The Raptors wore their purple jerseys as part of their 20th anniversary celebrations, and honoured former Raptor Muggsy Bogues with a video tribute during a timeout. Bogues, who travels the world doing promotional work for the NBA, said the Raptors are situated well in the wide-open Eastern Conference.

“The Raptors have a really good opportunity to come out of the East if they continue to keep grinding, continue to keep getting better, on both ends of the floor,” Bogues said. “What they’ve got now, they’ve proven they can beat anybody they play against, it’s just a matter of going out there and doing it.”

TORONTO — Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista spent part of the off-season in Mexico, went to the Dominican Republic for the New Year’s holiday and was home in Tampa for the last two weeks to begin training for the 2015 season.

He kept the shorts and sunscreen at home for his latest trip, a venture north to his summer stomping grounds for the Blue Jays’ annual Winter Tour.

It was a different look for Bautista on Friday as he sported a thick, hooded winter jacket during a media availability at Rogers Centre. The different look of the team he anchors was one of the main topics of conversation.

“We’re not that far away,” Bautista said. “We were very close last season. At the (trade) deadline, two games out of first place. You’re talking about minimal changes that can have a great effect and we’ve had some great moves so far already that can make us better. I truly feel like we have a contender.

“I felt that way two years ago, last year and again this year. I feel like we have a better roster now than we did a few years ago.”

After a disappointing third-place finish in the American League East last season, Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos quickly went to work.

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for Jose Bautista and the Jays in 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Thornhill

Canadian catcher Russell Martin was signed to a lucrative long-term deal and third baseman Josh Donaldson, pitcher Marco Estrada and Canadian outfielder Michael Saunders were acquired via trade. Pitcher J.A. Happ and infielders Adam Lind and Canadian Brett Lawrie were shipped out.

There is more work to be done. The bullpen needs to be shored up and the team could use an upgrade at second base.

But the upgrades have been significant. Martin gives the team a big defensive boost behind the plate and Donaldson is considered one of the best third basemen in the major leagues.

“The way I hope that they impact the team is by doing what they’ve done in the past with other clubs and doing it here,” Bautista said. “Just by doing that, it will be a huge influence I believe on wins and losses at the end of the season.”

Toronto played a solid first half last season but faded after the all-star break, winding up with a mediocre 83-79 record. Bautista again posted big numbers with 35 homers and 103 RBIs but the team was essentially out of the playoff hunt in early September.

There are some exciting young players on the roster but the team’s core is built to win now.

Bautista, for one, is 34 and entering the last guaranteed year of his contract. However, those factors — along with the team’s long post-season drought — are not something that affects his preparation.

“There’s no urgency on my end in any aspect,” Bautista said. “The thing that I’m focused on is figuring out how to help to win more games and winning more games and making it to the playoffs. Because we have such a good core and such a good team, I don’t feel any sense of urgency.”

Toronto Blue Jays’ Jose Bautista kisses his bat while in the batter’s box in a file photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

Joining Bautista for the Winter Tour kickoff were Canadian outfielder Dalton Pompey and pitchers R.A. Dickey, Todd Redmond and Aaron Loup. Other players are tabbed to participate in events next week in Calgary, Banff and Vancouver.

Dickey, the 40-year-old knuckleballer, also felt that the off-season moves will help the team.

“It’s nice to look on paper and see some names there throughout the lineup that you know are going to be special players,” he said. “It’s comforting is what it is. I’m trying to hold back my expectation until we get rolling but it’s nice to see those names for sure.”

Martin has expressed an interest in learning how to catch Dickey’s knuckleball, a floating, tricky pitch that’s difficult for all backstops to handle. Dickey has primarily worked with Josh Thole but he’s looking forward to developing a rapport with Martin as well.

“I’ve thrown 75 or 80 per cent of my starts since 2010 to Josh Thole and I love him like a brother,” Dickey said. “But to have a guy who can step in there and do it as well is a nice commodity.”

Also Friday, the Blue Jays avoided arbitration with Estrada and Saunders by agreeing to terms on one-year contracts. Estrada’s deal is worth US$3.9 million while Saunders will earn $2.875 million.

Toronto also signed infielder Munenori Kawasaki to a minor-league contract with an invite to spring training and outrighted right-hander Cory Burns to triple-A Buffalo.

Pitchers and catchers will begin working out at spring training on Feb. 23. The Blue Jays will kick off the regular season April 6 at New York.

Estrada’s deal was worth US$3.9 million while Saunders will earn $2.875 million.

Estrada, a 31-year-old right-hander, was 7-6 with a 4.36 earned-run average last season with the Milwaukee Brewers. The Blue Jays acquired him Nov. 1 in a trade for first baseman Adam Lind.

Estrada made 18 starts and 21 relief appearances last year, when he made $3,365,500. He is 23-26 with a 4.23 ERA over seven seasons with Washington and Milwaukee.

Saunders, a 28-year-old Victoria native, was acquired Dec. 3 in a trade with Seattle. The Mariners picked up pitcher J.A. Happ in the deal.

Saunders made his major-league debut with the Mariners in 2009 and spent parts of six seasons with the team. He earned $2.3 million in an injury-plagued 2014 season, when he hit .273 with eight homers and 34 RBIs.

Over 553 career big-league games, Saunders has a .231 average with 51 homers and 182 RBIs.

Earlier Thursday, the Blue Jays signed outfielder Andy Dirks to a minor-league contract with an invite to major-league spring training.

Dirks, 28, was originally claimed from Detroit on Oct. 31 and became a free agent when he non-tendered on Dec. 2.

He spent parts of three seasons with the Tigers after making his major-league debut in 2011. Dirks was hampered by back and hamstring injuries last year.

In 297 career major-league games, Dirks has a .276 average with 24 homers and 100 RBIs.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/baseball/blue-jays-avoid-arbitration-with-relief-pitcher-brett-cecil/feed1Josh Thole, Brett CecilthecanadianpressBlue Jays vs TigersScott Stinson: Toronto Blue Jays play alienation game with Paul Beestonhttp://o.canada.com/sports/baseball/jays-playing-alienation-game-with-longtime-exec-beeston
http://o.canada.com/sports/baseball/jays-playing-alienation-game-with-longtime-exec-beeston#commentsThu, 15 Jan 2015 03:05:20 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=577908]]>TORONTO — It is a hell of way to treat one of the most popular Blue Jays, non-player division, in club history.

Almost six weeks after the first reports that someone at the offices of Rogers Communications was actively searching for a replacement for club president and CEO Paul Beeston, the most visible link to the World Series years of Toronto’s baseball team, he remains a man without status.

Not out of a job, so far as anyone at Rogers is willing to say publicly, but not in one, either. Beeston’s contract expired in October, and by the following month it was assumed he would be back in the job for at least the 2015 season — one that begins at spring training in less than six weeks.

In the meantime, someone above him in the Rogers hierarchy started placing mysterious phone calls, to the Chicago White Sox about executive vice-president Ken Williams — or rather to Williams himself — and to the Baltimore Orioles about Dan Duquette, a vice-president and general manager in that organization. Reports out of both Chicago and Baltimore have said that the team owners, Jerry Reinsdorf and Peter Angelos respectively, were angered by the would-be poaching.

Rogers is pursuing Baltimore Orioles president and general manager Dan Duquette to run the Toronto Blue Jays. (Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

This inept botching of an executive search has never been explained by anyone in the Rogers offices. Questions about the phone calls, including who even made them, and if that person was disciplined over it, were first dismissed by Rogers public-relations staff as rumours, despite Williams being on the record that he was approached, and that Reinsdorf did not grant him permission to deal any further with whomever was on the other end of the phone.

Rogers also wouldn’t comment on Beeston’s situation, even with some kind of rote discussions-are-ongoing line of obfuscation that would have at least made it look as though the team didn’t suddenly drop the longtime president like he was on fire.

A month and a half later, Rogers’ cone of silence remains. A simple question posed to a senior Rogers public-relations executive on Wednesday — “Will Paul Beeston be the team president in 2015?” — went unanswered. At the same time, multiple outlets have reported that conversations between the Orioles and Blue Jays about Duquette are ongoing.

Last month ESPN.com said that there was some willingness on the part of the Orioles to allow Duquette, who is under contract through 2018, to walk, but that would require compensation from Toronto to make it happen. On Wednesday, Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi offered something similar: That the Jays and Orioles were discussing a compensation package that would allow Duquette to leave.

For the Blue Jays, this is akin to contemplating a new set of snow tires for a vehicle that is presently in flames.

The Blue Jays, as was widely noted when the Kansas City Royals made it to the post-season last fall, have the longest playoff drought of not just baseball, but in any of the major North American sports. They revamped a roster two years ago in a bold move that flopped, then mostly stood pat for 2014, which turned into a seriously wasted opportunity when the American League East powerhouses cratered.

Through all of that, precisely no one figured the Jays’ problems were a result of the guy in the president’s office. And yet Beeston, the team’s first employee, who was president during the Jays’ 1990s heyday, and returned to take the same job in 2008 — giving a shred of relevance to a franchise that hadn’t had one for a while — now finds himself wondering if he will be invited to continue, while discovering in the press that others have been contacted about his job.

If the reports about compensating the Orioles for Duquette prove accurate, then the Jays franchise, which has not been successful on the field for 21 seasons, will be giving a division rival talent from their own system in order to secure the services of an executive to fill a position that didn’t need filling.

It would be nice to imagine that Baltimore would take a lesser asset off the Blue Jays’ hands — Dioner Navarro, please come to reception, and bring your locker contents — but the Orioles hold a considerable amount of leverage here.

Paul Beeston chose Alex Anthopoulos to be the Blue Jays general manager in 2009. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)

The Jays received a player from Boston when they traded one contract year of former manager John Farrell; Duquette is under contract for four years and holds a more senior position. Imagine how thrilled general manager Alex Anthopoulos would be to lose on-field assets in order to replace something above him on the organizational chart.

There are other levels of intrigue here — that ESPN report from last month suggested new Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred wanted to see the Duquette-to-Toronto move and if that’s true, it is probably not a coincidence that Beeston was not among Manfred’s supporters when a new MLB boss was appointed.

But none of that should be the concern of the Toronto Blue Jays. They didn’t much need a new president, though they seem on their way to getting one, and at a price they didn’t need to pay.

Along the way, a loyal executive — a guy with his name on the stadium’s wall — gets undercut by persons unknown, and the team’s owners won’t even address the open questions about his future.

Professional sports can be a rough business, and good people lose their jobs all the time at the whims of someone in the front office. It’s just that, usually, they are afforded the courtesy of being told about it.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/baseball/jays-playing-alienation-game-with-longtime-exec-beeston/feed0Paul BeestonscottmstinsonRogers is pursuing Baltimore Orioles president and general manager Dan Duquette to run the Toronto Blue Jays. (Jim Rogash/Getty Images)Paul Beeston chose Alex Anthopoulos to be the Blue Jays general manager in 2009. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette) Real grass at Toronto’s Rogers Centre poses major challengeshttp://o.canada.com/sports/baseball/real-grass-at-torontos-rogers-centre-poses-major-challenges
http://o.canada.com/sports/baseball/real-grass-at-torontos-rogers-centre-poses-major-challenges#commentsWed, 14 Jan 2015 03:42:36 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=577325]]>Imagine: Sitting before you is a scale model of the Rogers Centre, roughly the size of a round roasting pan. Your challenge: to put a real baseball field in the stadium – natural grass with a dirt infield — by opening day 2018.

Your research has been thorough. Experts at the University of Guelph have determined the ideal species of grass. They have it growing on an Ontario sod farm. They say it will flourish indoors with the roof closed.

Under the right conditions, that is. Your job is to create those conditions.

So open the roof, reach in and toss out that artificial turf, which was new for the 2015 season. Haul out your jackhammer. Rip up the concrete. Install plumbing for irrigation and drainage. Dig some more to accommodate the sod and the dirt infield.

Close the roof. Strip that shiny skin from the four mammoth roof panels. It’s the original PVC membrane, circa 1989, and it’s worn out. While you’re at it, you might figure out a way to replace it with a material that lets in the light. Grass likes natural light, and right now, the closed dome shuts it out.

The scientists at Guelph say the grass will grow without natural light, but you’ll need lots of artificial light – enormous banks of mobile “grow lights” that sit about 10 feet off the ground and nourish the sod when the field is not in use. You’ll roll them around between games to focus on the worn spots, even after games played with the roof open.

One more thing. Grass sweats. (Scientists call it transpiration.). Water from the roots vaporizes from the leaf surface into the air. All of that grass will create a lot of humidity, and you’ve got to figure out a way to get rid of that sticky air or the Rogers Centre will become a sweatbox with the roof closed. So you’ll need a dehumidifier. Forget Home Depot; you need a really big one.

Now you’re ready to install the grass.

Assuming, of course, that your engineers surmounted all of those challenges and you have the budget to make it happen.

***

Except for the 2018 deadline, all of the foregoing is fantasy. The grass is not growing. The University of Guelph has not begun the serious business of testing grass species. The Jays’ engineering team continues to investigate the enormously complex logistical challenges. They have visited stadiums in Milwaukee, Miami and Arizona, among others, to see how officials there have dealt with airflow and light issues.

Of course, there is a fundamental difference between the Rogers Centre and those facilities. Those other stadiums are baseball parks, engineered to grow grass. The Rogers Centre is a multi-use indoor entertainment facility engineered nearly three decades ago without grass in mind.

For a year or so, Guelph has been eager to strike a formal working agreement with the Jays. That deal might get done “within a week, give or take,” said Stephen Brooks, the Jays senior vice-president of business operations.

It has been a long time coming.

For three years, Blue Jays president Paul Beeston has spoken publicly about putting grass in the Rogers Centre. According to documents obtained by Blue Jays fan David Dowe through a Freedom of Information request, the Jays and Guelph officials have been in discussions since December 2013, when Guelph gave the club a detailed research proposal with timelines.

Dowe, who lives in Burlington, Ont. submitted his FOI request to Guelph, seeking details of the university’s discussions with the Jays. He received a series of emails with most of the information redacted, but showing that discussions have been ongoing for more than a year and that Guelph politely nudged the Jays about settling a formal agreement in January, April, May, June and September last year.

Asked whether the negotiations are stalled, Brooks demurred.

“I wouldn’t characterize it as a standstill,” he said. “This is a big project that has lots of moving parts. It requires negotiations between the two parties. It requires us to work through internally what that means to our business. Those things take time.”

The FOI request went to Guelph but the Blue Jays also took part in the redaction process. Brooks said the blacked-out sections covered “financial discussions between the parties and matters of a proprietary nature.” One of the financial issues: How much the Jays would pay Guelph for the grass-roots research.

In an interview, Brooks seemed confident that the 2018 deadline is achievable. But given the complexity of reverse-engineering a 26-year-old stadium, he added a caveat.

“We’re going through a process that is uncharted territory,” he said. “We don’t necessarily know yet what we’re going to find out about what has to be done from a humidity perspective, or from an airflow perspective. That’s going to resolve itself as we work through this.

“We’re targeting 2018. Could that change? As we go through this process, things could change. We don’t know just yet.”

***

Eric Lyons is eager to see the agreement signed so he can get started. The associate professor at Guelph will lead the research into testing various grass species, measuring the levels of humidity they produce and how they respond to artificial light, as well as their ability to withstand the rigors of a baseball season.

Lyons grew up near Pittsburgh and remains an ardent (and long-suffering) Pirates fan. He admits he might become a Blue Jays fan too. Mainly, he’s a fan of science and turf grass.

“I’m a scientist. I love baseball, I love sports, I love turf grass,” he said. “Why wouldn’t I want to do this?”

He envisions a two-stage process. The first, ending in May 2016, would generate the results of his research — the right grass for the job. Meanwhile, the Jays would continue their retrofit research. After Lyons submits his final report, it would be up to the Jays to decide whether to take the project forward.

“Growing this many plants indoors is going to require a huge investment in infrastructure,” Lyons said. “You can do these things cheaply. You can do them in a way that won’t last, or you can do them right. And (the Jays) want to know the cost of doing it right. That’s what they’ve expressed to me.”

Ideally, he would finish tests to determine the appropriate species and start growing it for the Rogers Centre this fall, for harvest in 2017. Then he would test it in a simulated environment under artificial light.

If all goes well, it would be installed early in 2018 and groomed for opening day. Like most clubs, the Jays would likely need to replace it at least once during the season, he said.

Growing the new sod in a warmer climate south of the border might speed up the maturation process, but creates potential problems as well. Truck transportation would take at least a day and any holdups at the border – importing plants is no breeze – could leave the sod in poor shape.

“I would grow it in Canada with a sod producer that is prepared to set up a system so that you can harvest sod in the winter under frozen ground,” Lyons said. “So we would have to set up hoop houses, heat them up, thaw the ground and harvest. That would be very expensive.”

Among the hurdles the Jays face, dealing with humidity may be the biggest.

“If it’s hot and humid in that stadium, no one’s going to want to go a game,” he said.

Assuming the Jays can handle the required retrofit, Lyons is confident the grass will flourish, and that players and fans will love it.

“We can do this,” he said. “I am certain that we can. It’s just whether or not it’s feasible for the Blue Jays to want to do it. That’s what we’re going to help them answer.

Duquette is president of baseball operations for the Orioles and Williams is an executive vice-president with the White Sox. The Blue Jays would need to permission from their current clubs to speak with them.

“Permission was neither denied nor granted. At this given time, it’s just not the time as we’re trying to put the White Sox together in the best possible way,” Williams said Monday at baseball’s winter meetings. “It’s been going on for a little while. They’re obviously in a transitional phase in Toronto now. Otherwise they wouldn’t be doing it. So whatever their plan is, it includes reaching out to people.”

“We’re here to put together the strongest Oriole team that we can for 2015. That’s my focus,” Duquette said. “I’m here with the Orioles, and my focus is with the Orioles and helping the Orioles put together the strongest team that they can have in 2015.”

Duquette was hired as Baltimore’s top baseball executive in November 2011. Duquette, who held similar positions in Montreal and Boston, at first was given a three-year contract but currently is signed through 2018.

Since he was hired, the Orioles have twice reached the post-season and this year won their first AL East title since 1997.

“We are very pleased with his performance, and we expect him to satisfy his contract,” Orioles owner Peter Angelos told The Sun in Baltimore. “We don’t want him to go away, and we don’t expect him to go away. And he’s given no indication he wants to go away.”

The first employee hired by the Blue Jays in May 1976, Beeston became vice-president of business operations in 1977, executive vice-president of business in 1984 and president and chief operating officer in 1989. He was promoted to chief executive officer in 1991 and held that position until 1997, when he quit to become the COO of Major League Baseball, a role he held until 2002.

He returned to the Blue Jays in October 2008 as interim CEO, and Toronto took off the interim tag a year later.

The Framingham, Mass., native signed with the Twins as a free agent in 2012.

He was the most valuable player of the triple-A International League in 2013 with the Rochester Red Wings.

Colabello has 29 extra base hits, including 13 home runs, in 114 career major-league games.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/toronto-blue-jays-claim-first-basemanoutfielder-chris-colabello-off-waivers-from-minnesota-twins/feed0Minnesota Twins v Cleveland IndiansthecanadianpressScott Stinson: Toronto Blue Jays reshape roster despite their financial limitshttp://o.canada.com/sports/baseball/scott-stinson-toronto-blue-jays-reshape-roster-despite-their-financial-limits
http://o.canada.com/sports/baseball/scott-stinson-toronto-blue-jays-reshape-roster-despite-their-financial-limits#commentsSun, 07 Dec 2014 23:38:10 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=558040]]>When the Toronto Blue Jays traded first baseman Adam Lind last month, it was variously described as a payroll-trimming move that would give the team flexibility to reconstruct its roster in the following weeks. General manager Alex Anthopoulos used the term “flexibility” more than half a dozen times in a brief conference call with reporters.

And so it has come to pass. In the month since, Anthopoulos has signed free-agent catcher Russell Martin and traded for infielder Josh Donaldson and outfielder Michael Saunders, reshaping the roster in a manner that echoes his 2012 tear down, but without the fanfare.

With baseball’s winter meetings set to begin in San Diego Monday, no one doubts that Anthopoulos has more deals to be made. He still needs a second baseman and probably another outfielder. Plus he still has some payroll flexibility — the Martin deal was back-loaded so that the bulk of his money will arrive when other high-priced Jays come off the books.

Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos has always been careful to avoid saying he operates with a payroll limit.

What never gets fully explained, though, is why the general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays needs to preserve that payroll flexibility. The answer, of course, is that the team’s owners require it of him. Though Anthopoulos has always been careful to avoid saying that he operates with a payroll limit, it is clear that one exists. “Our payroll is fine,” he will say to a question about whether it can be increased. Meanwhile, he has to get creative to save dollars, whether with the structure of the Martin deal or the possibility last off-season that some Jays players would have restructured their contracts to free up money for free-agent pitcher Ervin Santana.

The Blue Jays behave like a salary-cap team in a sport that doesn’t have one — but it’s the only one of the major sports that doesn’t have a punitive cap or payroll tax, which is perhaps why the clamour for the Jays to spend more isn’t particularly loud. We are kind of used to teams that are stuck to their budgets.

But the Jays really need not be a budget team. They are, depending on how you want to define market size, playing in one of the biggest markets in North America, fourth by some measures, seventh by others. The Jays are owned by a corporation that nets more than a billion dollars in annual profits. They play in a stadium that they own, built largely with public money and essentially bought from the remainder bin.

When the Blue Jays won the World Series in 1993, they had the highest payroll in Major League Baseball.

And even though they have crept back into the top 10 of major league payrolls, there is still a chasm between them and the serious big spenders. Beyond all that, there’s this: becoming a playoff team again, after 22 years in the wilderness, is the best way for the Jays to increase their revenue base and dramatically so. Put another way: what’s an extra $10-million if it means finally making the post-season?

In 1993, the last time the Blue Jays made the playoffs, they had the highest payroll in Major League Baseball, at $45 million. They were among the salary leaders for another two seasons, but in 1996 the payroll dropped to $28 million, not long after the team’s owner Labatt was purchased by Belgian giant Interbrew.The Jays’ payroll was decoupled from the path travelled by the sport’s biggest spenders, and it has never come close since.

Though it climbed back upward at times, two major payroll reductions — in 2003 and 2010, both under Rogers ownership — put Toronto so far behind the league’s big-spending teams that even with the major payroll bump in 2012 the Jays still spend well behind some of their big-market rivals. Even with a 2014 payroll of $129 million, Toronto would have to spend another $60 million just to match the average of the five highest-spending teams.

The Boston Red Sox gave free agent third baseman Pablo Sandoval $95 million this off-season, proving to once again be their spendthrift self. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

While spending on its own is no guarantee of success, there is no doubt that it helps. Though there is no statistically significant correlation between dollars and wins in hockey, basketball or football, it accounts for about 22 per cent of the variation in team win percentage in baseball, says Andrew Zimbalist, a professor at Smith College in Massachusetts, who has studied a wealth of sports-economics issues. Wins are also correlated to dollars in another way: teams that win more make more money. The impact of wins on revenues is strongest, Zimbalist says, when a team is climbing between a .520- and .570-win percentage — that is, the difference between a good team and one that is in serious playoff contention. “Once you get above that, and it’s just a matter of what playoff seed you get, the impact (of wins on dollars earned) drops off,” Zimbalist says. “But between .520 and .570 there’s a very large impact.” Toronto’s win percentage last year was .512.

You don’t always get a return from investing money in payroll, Zimbalist notes, but as for the maxim that you can spend money to make money, “there is truth to it” in baseball, he says.

Alex Anthopoulos is required to build a contender with limited funds, which forces him to work with a higher degree of difficulty. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

Toronto’s division rivals certainly seem to believe it. As Anthopoulos has made his cagey winter moves, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have been their usual spendthrift selves. Boston gave $95 million to Giants infielder Pablo Sandoval and another $88 million to the Dodgers’ Hanley Ramirez, despite having a 2014 payroll that was close to $160 million. The Yankees spent $36 million on reliever Andrew Miller, who might not even be their closer. They had a payroll last year of $233 million, so a $9-million-a-year setup man makes a weird kind of sense.

There are red flags with all of those deals, but they show the lengths to which big-market teams will go to give themselves the best chance at winning. It might be wasted money, but it’s just that: money. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, require Anthopoulos to build a contender with obvious payroll constraints. It’s not that it can’t be done, but it forces him to work with a higher degree of difficulty.

In baseball, there’s no bonus trophy for getting more wins per dollar than your division rivals. Too bad, that, because it’s one the Jays might win.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/baseball/scott-stinson-toronto-blue-jays-reshape-roster-despite-their-financial-limits/feed0Russell Martin; Alex AnthopoulosscottmstinsonToronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos speaks to reporters at the Blue Jays' Spring Training facility in Dunedin, FL.25 Oct 1993: Joe Carter is held aloft after hitting a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to win the World Series, four games to two, against the Philadelphia Phillies.Newly acquired Boston Red Sox free agent third baseman Pablo Sandoval smilies as he is introduced to the media at Fenway Park Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014, in Boston. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)TORONTO, CANADA - APRIL 4: General manager Alex Anthopoulos of the Toronto Blue Jays talks to media befoe MLB game action against the New York Yankees on April 4, 2014 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)Canadian outfielder Michael Saunders says it’s an honour to play for Blue Jayshttp://o.canada.com/sports/canadian-outfielder-michael-saunders-says-its-an-honour-to-play-for-blue-jays
http://o.canada.com/sports/canadian-outfielder-michael-saunders-says-its-an-honour-to-play-for-blue-jays#commentsThu, 04 Dec 2014 21:27:41 +0000http://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=556489&preview_id=556489]]>Michael Saunders says it’s an “honour” to be a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.

The team acquired the Victoria native in a trade with the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday that sent left-hander J.A. Happ the other way.

Saunders said on a conference call Thursday that playing for Toronto won’t just be about representing the city, but all of Canada.

Michael Saunders will take over Melky Cabrera’s spot in the Blue Jays outfield. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

The 28-year-old hit .273 with eight homers and 34 RBIs in 78 games last season while battling joint inflammation in his right shoulder and a strained left oblique.

In 553 games over six seasons in the majors, Saunders has a .231 average with 51 home runs, 182 RBIs and 54 stolen bases, only becoming a everyday player in 2012.

It’s expected he will take over in left field for Melky Cabrera, who declined Toronto’s US$15.3-million qualifying offer last month and is a free agent.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/canadian-outfielder-michael-saunders-says-its-an-honour-to-play-for-blue-jays/feed0Seattle Mariners v Houston AstrosthecanadianpressMichael Saunders will take over Melky Cabrera's spot in the Blue Jays outfield. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)Toronto Blue Jays trade J.A. Happ to Seattle Mariners for Michael Saunders, move on from Melky Cabrerahttp://o.canada.com/sports/seattle-sends-canadian-saunders-to-toronto-for-happ
http://o.canada.com/sports/seattle-sends-canadian-saunders-to-toronto-for-happ#commentsThu, 04 Dec 2014 00:11:28 +0000http://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=555913&preview_id=555913]]>TORONTO — Melky Cabrera will not be back with the Toronto Blue Jays, while the club’s starting rotation is going to skew very young. That is the upshot of a trade consummated Wednesday evening, which sent left-handed starter J.A. Happ to Seattle for outfielder Michael Saunders, a native of Victoria.

The Blue Jays envision Saunders as their full-time starter in left field, playing alongside Jose Bautista in right and a mystery man in centre — Dalton Pompey, Kevin Pillar and Ezequiel Carrera, signed to a minor-league deal on Wednesday, are the top candidates, although the team could make another move to shore up the position.

Good change of venues for #BlueJays’ Saunders, #Mariners’ Happ. Saunders should hit better at Rogers. Happ should pitch better at Safeco.

J.A. Happ spent parts of three seasons in Toronto. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young)

“We’ve been talking on and off about Saunders for years at various times,” Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos said Wednesday. “Jack (Zduriencik, Seattle’s general manager) and I have talked a ton and never been able to reach an agreement. Especially with Melky (Cabrera) being a free agent and having a need in left, he’s a guy that we continued to talk about. We think there’s upside with the bat. He’s already a pretty good offensive player. And we love the fact that we can have a plus defensive guy on a corner as well.

“We didn’t feel good at all about the free-agent options in left field … either because players have other places that they’d rather play first, the asking price might not fit with what we’re trying to do, the years (of the contract). There are a number of things that come into it.”

That includes Cabrera, who hit .301 with 16 home runs last year in his second season with the Blue Jays. His time with the team was likely over once the Blue Jays signed catcher Russell Martin to a five-year, $82-million US deal, but the Saunders deal made it more or less official.

Saunders, who played just 78 games last year because of an oblique strain, hit .273 with eight home runs in 2014. In 2012, he hit .247 with 19 homers and stole 21 bases. After making $2.3-million US last season, Saunders is arbitration eligible for the next two seasons, with the website MLBTradeRumours.com estimating his 2015 salary at $2.9-million US. At the start of November, the Blue Jays exercised the option in Happ’s contract that guarantees him $6.7-million US in 2015. He will become a free agent after the season.

The trade of Happ also means Aaron Sanchez, who finished last year in the Blue Jays’ bullpen, is the favourite to be the fifth starter in the rotation. Anthopoulos said Sanchez would have to earn his rotation spot, which would slot him alongside fellow young Blue Jays draft picks Marcus Stroman and Drew Hutchison as well as veterans Mark Buehrle and R.A. Dickey. Again, Anthopoulos did not close the door on the possibility of acquiring another starter, either via trade or free agency.

Marco Estrada, acquired from Milwaukee for Adam Lind, Daniel Norris, Liam Hendriks and Todd Redmond, could also push Sanchez, who had a 1.09 earned-run average and 27 strikeouts in 33 innings of relief with the Blue Jays last year. He made 20 total starts in Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Buffalo last year.

“He’s going to be stretched out in spring training,” Anthopoulos said of Sanchez’s opportunity to make the rotation. “It’s certainly increased his odds. But he’s still going to earn a spot right now, depending on what else we might do.”

The trade also narrows Anthopoulos’ focus, with the winter meetings set to start next week in San Diego.

“When you start the off-season, you may have five, six areas you want to address,” Anthopoulos said. “We’ve been able to knock some of those things out. Now we can really focus our attention to the bullpen. It’s probably a little easier to operate that way.

“We feel pretty good about our offence. We’d still like to upgrade second base if we could, clearly. We feel pretty good about our rotation. … But we need to do some work in the bullpen. At least we can spend a little more time on that in the trade and free-agent front.”

The Blue Jays also signed Justin Smoak to a one-year, $1-million US contract. The Blue Jays claimed Smoak, a switch-hitting first baseman, off of waivers in October, but non-tendered him on Tuesday, making him a free agent. The Jays also declined to retain the rights to Andy Dirks and John Mayberry Jr., at Tuesday night’s non-tender deadline.

Smoak, who turns 28 on Friday, had his best year in 2013 with Seattle, when he hit 19 home runs and drove in 50 runs, despite hitting just .238. Smoak played in just 80 games last season, hitting seven home runs but batting just .202.

However, Smoak is seen as an above-average defensive first baseman, likely allowing Edwin Encarnacion to be the designated hitter more often this season. Despite having nearly equal batting averages against left-handed and right-handed pitchers, the Blue Jays will likely use Smoak primarily against righties.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/seattle-sends-canadian-saunders-to-toronto-for-happ/feed0Seattle Mariners v Oakland Athleticspostmedianews1J.A. Happ spent parts of three seasons in Toronto. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young)Brett Lawrie eager to begin new chapter, stay healthy with Oakland Athleticshttp://o.canada.com/sports/brett-lawrie-eager-to-begin-new-chapter-stay-healthy-with-oakland-athletics
http://o.canada.com/sports/brett-lawrie-eager-to-begin-new-chapter-stay-healthy-with-oakland-athletics#commentsTue, 02 Dec 2014 02:57:27 +0000http://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=554633&preview_id=554633]]>OAKLAND, Calif. — More than worrying about the daunting task of trying to replace all-star Josh Donaldson or dwelling on the shock of being traded from Toronto, Brett Lawrie is embracing the idea of staying healthy as he joins the Oakland Athletics.

Bidding farewell to the Blue Jays’ unforgiving turf field could be a big benefit for his body moving forward, too.

Oakland’s new third baseman was acquired in a trade from Toronto on Friday night that sent Donaldson to the Blue Jays. Also coming to the A’s in the deal were left-hander Sean Nolin, right-hander Kendall Graveman and minor league shortstop Franklin Barreto.

Lawrie missed a call from Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos, then quickly called back to learn he had been traded.

“I was kind of at a loss for words to be honest with you. I didn’t really know what to say, it happened so fast,” Lawrie said. “It’s almost like I was dreaming.”

Lawrie wants nothing more than to stay on the field and figures if that happens the rest will take care of itself. He acknowledges he’s had his share of bad luck and playing on turf didn’t do him any favours as a player who is constantly moving and cutting.

“Give me 550 at-bats in a row. These are things I haven’t had yet in the big leagues,” he said.

He didn’t play again after Aug. 5 following a left oblique strain he suffered in his return after being sidelined for more than a month with a broken right index finger.

It marked the third oblique injury of Lawrie’s four-year career. He strained his left oblique in a warmup game for the 2013 World Baseball Classic in March 2013, missing the first 14 games of the season. Lawrie also missed almost a month with a right oblique strain in late 2012.

The 24-year-old Lawrie, who grew up in British Columbia, has already been on the disabled list six times.

“For myself, it’s about staying healthy and getting a substantial amount of playing time. It’s a new chapter,” he said. “This is a team that likes to win. I haven’t been on that side of the coin. I am a big piece of this puzzle, I feel like.”

Lawrie was a first-round pick by the Brewers at No. 16 overall in the 2008 draft. Traded to Toronto in December 2010, Lawrie made his major league debut Aug. 5, 2011. He played 125 games in 2012 and 107 in ’13 before this past season was cut short.

Now he is gearing up to be at full strength for the start of spring training in 2 1/2 months at Oakland’s new Arizona home in Mesa.

The 24-year-old Lawrie, from Langley, B.C., was the starting third baseman for the last three seasons. He hit .247 with nine doubles, 12 home runs and 38 runs batted in over 70 games last season. He hit .265 with 61 doubles, 43 home runs and 157 RBIs in 345 games over four seasons in Toronto.

CINCINNATI, OH – JUNE 22: Brett Lawrie #13 of the Toronto Blue Jays forces of Skip Schumaker #25 of the Cincinnati Reds at second in the first inning of the game at Great American Ball Park on June 22, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

The 28-year-old Donaldson hit .255 last season with the Athletics, driving in 29 home runs and 98 RBIs. A right-handed hitter, Donaldson had a .342 on-base percentage while finishing sixth in the American League with 76 walks. He finished eighth in AL MVP voting in 2014.

He has a career batting average of .268 with 63 home runs and 228 RBIs in 405 games with a .347 on-base percentage.

Nolin, 24, spent most of the 2014 season with triple-A Buffalo where he posted a 4-6 record with a 3.50 earned-run average in 17 starts. The left-hander appeared in one game for Toronto in both the 2013 and 2014 seasons, posting a 0-1 record and a 27.00 ERA.

Graveman had a 14-6 record and a 1.83 ERA in 27 starts with four of the Blue Jays’ minor league affiliates, working his way up from single-A to Buffalo. The 23-year-old right-handed pitcher was 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA in five relief appearances for Toronto last season.

The 18-year-old Barreto hit .311 last season for the single-A Vancouver Canadians with 23 doubles, six home runs and 61 RBIs in 73 games. In his two minor league seasons Barreto has hit .296 with 10 home runs and 61 RBIs.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/blue-jays-make-blockbuster-trade-sending-brett-lawrie-to-oakland-as-for-josh-donaldson/feed0Boston Red Sox v Toronto Blue JaysthecanadianpressCINCINNATI, OH - JUNE 22: Brett Lawrie #13 of the Toronto Blue Jays forces of Skip Schumaker #25 of the Cincinnati Reds at second in the first inning of the game at Great American Ball Park on June 22, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)Josh Donaldson #20 formerly of the Oakland Athletics (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)Jays courtship of Martin began in Montreal coffee shophttp://o.canada.com/sports/toronto-blue-jays-formally-introduce-east-york-native-russell-martin
http://o.canada.com/sports/toronto-blue-jays-formally-introduce-east-york-native-russell-martin#commentsThu, 20 Nov 2014 20:21:54 +0000http://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=548382&preview_id=548382]]>By John Lott

TORONTO — Russell Martin figured the woman — he described her as “older” — probably was once a Montreal Expos fan. And as he sat in a suburban Montreal coffee shop chatting with Paul Beeston and Alex Anthopoulos, the woman spotted Martin and broke into a smile.

Then she became perhaps the very first person on the planet to force the Montreal-raised catcher to admit publicly that he should be a Blue Jay.

“She was like, ‘You need to sign with the Blue Jays.’ I’m like, ‘All right, all right,’ ” Martin said with a smile.

Beeston, the team’s president and CEO, erupted in his familiar cackle, Martin recalled.

“He was like, ‘Aw man, that’s awesome,’ ” Martin said as he recalled the vignette during a chat with a few reporters Thursday after his formal introduction as the Blue Jays’ new $82-million US catcher.

“I’ve never been as comfortable with a signing as I’ve been with this one,” Alex Anthopoulos said of his five-deal with Russel Martin. (Nathan Denette/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Someone suggested the woman in the coffee shop might have been a plant, slipping into the scene after Beeston gave her a secret signal during the meeting in Laval two weeks ago.

“She was a good actress if he planned it,” Martin said. “She could win a Golden Globe or something like that.”

The mysterious coffee-shop customer should at least get free season tickets, or maybe throw out a ceremonial first pitch before a game at the Rogers Centre. Beeston and Anthopoulos have to be grateful for any little help that popped up along the way in their relentless full-court press to sign Martin.

From the start of the free agency season Nov. 4, Anthopoulos and his aides were thoroughly absorbed in signing Martin, an elite defensive catcher coming off a breakout season with the bat in Pittsburgh, and a Canadian — Toronto-born, Montreal-raised — to boot.

“Our focus was on Martin,” Anthopoulos said. “That just took a lot of time and energy. We didn’t have five balls in the air. It was sole, singular focus on him.”

In the end, adding another year to their four-year offer enabled the Jays to blow past the Cubs and Dodgers.

“I’ve never been as comfortable with a signing as I’ve been with this one,” Anthopoulos said.

For Martin, the deal was about contract length and money — these things usually are — but it didn’t hurt that he grew up rooting first for the Expos, and then, in the Jays’ World Series years of 1992 and 1993, for the team of Joe Carter and Tom Henke and Kelly Gruber.

“It’s almost surreal right now, having a Blue Jays’ jersey on, from being a kid five or six years old watching TV, back in the day,” Martin said.

He was speaking during a news conference that was televised live across his native land, followed by a lengthy dissection of the trade by a six-man team on a network owned by Rogers Communications, the company that also owns the team and recently raised the price of tickets to watch Martin play next season.

Anthopoulos said he had never worked so hard, and involved so many people in the due-diligence and recruitment process, in order to sign a free agent. (Granted, his previous free agents lacked Martin’s cachet.)

Offence, defence, character, leadership — Martin has it all, the GM insisted, over and over again, during the news conference and in scrums afterward. At times, he made Martin sound like the second coming of Johnny Bench, fuelling the emotions of fans inclined toward both optimism and cynicism.

“It’s just so rare that you have the perfect fit,” the GM said.

Perfect fit? A catcher who, before batting .290 with a .402 on-base percentage last year, hit .234 with a .332 OBP over the previous five seasons?

To hear Anthopoulos tell it, Martin’s 2014 season means more than his previous eight with the Dodgers, Yankees and Pirates.

He described Martin as a “complete player” who makes his teammates better because of his work ethic and even-keeled leadership.

Under contract through 2019, by which time he will be 36 and his salary $20-million US, Martin will age well, Anthopoulous predicted. That was just one item on the GM’s checklist. After he and his staff investigated Martin’s background, all the way back to his youth in Montreal, they were able to “check off every box,” Anthopoulos said

“He uses the whole field, can put the ball in play, can draw a walk, his swing is great, great athlete from an aging standpoint, takes care of himself,” the GM just said, just getting warmed up.

And Martin is accomplished at blocking and framing pitches and throwing out runners and mentoring young pitchers, of which the Jays have a bunch.

After the tiniest pause, Anthopoulos added, “I know I’m going on and on.”

Later, Martin smiled again when he was asked about the selling job Anthopoulos did during a whirlwind two-week courtship.

“Alex, he’s not afraid to speak,” Martin said. “He’s not afraid to take charge when it comes to talking. He was just very vocal about how much he wanted me to be a part of the team. He felt like it was a perfect fit.”

Anthopoulos stressed that it took a multitude – from Rogers CEO Guy Laurence to the scouting department to payroll director Brenda Dimmer — to make the deal happen. And the way he talked, it wouldn’t be surprising if he hired a private detective or two.

“We did so much work on this guy, it’s unbelievable,” the GM said.

Anthopoulos used the word perfect so often to describe Martin that it did sound unbelievable. In roughly four months, it will be the perfect Canadian catcher’s turn to make believers of Blue Jays fans.

The new Toronto Blue Jays catcher is also known for his poise, game-calling ability and pitch framing skills — attributes that don’t show up in the boxscore but can still have a big impact.

“He’s got a lot of emotion, a lot of passion and a lot of desire,” said Baseball Canada coach and national teams director Greg Hamilton. “But he’s just able to slow things down and play under control. That’s the thing that I’ve always respected in Russ’s game. He’s able to slow the game down and really have control of the game, the pace of the game.

“You see some players that are always in a hurry. They’re trying to catch up to the game and it’s anything but with Russ. He is always very gathered, very controlled. It’s a special player that can do that and he was able to do that from a young age.”

Martin joined the Canadian junior team in 1999 and later played for the national senior team at the 2003 Olympic qualifier and the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

The 31-year-old Toronto native, who grew up in Chelsea, Que., signed a US$82-million, five-year deal with the Blue Jays this week after spending the last two seasons in Pittsburgh. The Blue Jays announced the free-agent signing Tuesday morning.

A team spokesman said the Blue Jays are planning to introduce Martin at a news conference Thursday.

The five-foot-10 205-pounder has a career .259 average with 119 home runs and 540 RBIs in nine seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and Pirates. His teams have reached the playoffs on seven occasions.

Hamilton said in addition to his impressive statistics, Martin is a people person who has the ability to improve a pitcher’s comfort zone.

“He really is able to manage their approach and their game days in a way that keeps them focused and keeps them controlled,” he said. “And he’s a very gifted defensive player.”

Martin threw out 39% of runners in 2014 — 3rd in #mlb among C w/- 81 or more starts to Yadier (StL) and Chirinos (TEX). Navarro at 21%

Martin played 111 games for the Pirates last season and hit .290 with 11 homers and 67 RBIs. The 2007 Gold Glover had a .402 on-base percentage and threw out 39 per cent of would-be base stealers.

Hamilton said one of Martin’s standout positional skills is his ability to take a mid-90’s fastball — even one that is sinking — and stabilize it while presenting it over the plate so that an umpire is comfortable seeing it.

“It’s so subtle that you don’t even recognize it really when you’re watching the game unless you’re really focusing on that,” Hamilton said from his Ottawa office. “But again, it’s back to how soft his hands are and how controlled he is in terms of being able to receive with balance.”

“It’s not that he takes a non-strike and makes it a strike,” Hamilton added. “It’s that he takes a borderline pitch that’s on the black and receives it with ease. And he’s able to show it to the umpire in a way which it continues (to) be a strike as opposed to it carrying out of the strike zone.”

The Toronto pitching staff is anchored by veterans Mark Buehrle and R.A. Dickey and includes youngsters Marcus Stroman and Drew Hutchison. The fifth spot appears to be up in the air but could go to J.A. Happ, newly acquired Marco Estrada or rising star Aaron Sanchez.

Martin’s contract is backloaded — he will get $7 million next year, $15 million in 2016 and $20 million in each of the final three seasons. He’s coming off a $17-million, two-year deal with Pittsburgh and turned down a $15.3-million qualifying offer from the Pirates last week.

The signing means Toronto forfeits its first-round pick (17th) in June’s draft while Pittsburgh will receive a compensatory pick between the first and second rounds. Toronto will receive a compensatory pick if outfielder Melky Cabrera, who turned down a qualifying offer from the Blue Jays, signs elsewhere.

Martin’s contract is the biggest one handed out by general manager Alex Anthopoulos since taking over from J.P. Ricciardi in October 2009. It’s the second-biggest contract ever for the Blue Jays, trailing only the $126-million, seven-year deal given to outfielder Vernon Wells following the 2006 season.

The Blue Jays have a club policy that limits free-agent contracts to a maximum of five years.

The addition of Martin also boosts the Canadian content on the country’s lone Major League Baseball team. He joins infielder Brett Lawrie of Langley, B.C., and outfielder Dalton Pompey of Mississauga, Ont., on the active roster.

Russell Martin of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits a RBI single in the seventh inning against the Milwaukee Brewers. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

“They’re not average players, they’re guys that have a lot of dimension to what they can do on both sides of the baseball, both offensively and defensively,” Hamilton said. “They can change games in multi-faceted ways which is exciting to see.”

Jacoby, 54, was the hitting coach in Cincinnati from 2007-13 and served as minor league hitting co-ordinator in the Texas Rangers system last season.

The Philadelphia native has been coaching since 2000 for the Reds (2000-02, 2007-13) and Rangers organization (2003-06, 2014) in various capacities.

Canadian Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds talks with batting coach Brook Jacoby during a game in 2012. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

Jacoby played 11 seasons in the major leagues with Atlanta, Cleveland and Oakland. He made the American League all-star team while with the Indians in 1986 and 1990.

The former third baseman batted .270 over his career. He had career highs in home runs (32) and batting average (.300) in 1987.

Jacoby replaces Kevin Seitzer, who left Toronto last month to join the Atlanta Braves.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/baseball/toronto-blue-jays-hire-former-all-star-brook-jacoby-as-hitting-coach/feed0Texas Rangers Photo DaythecanadianpressCINCINNATI, OH - JULY 30: Joey Votto #19 of the Cincinnati Reds talks with batting coach Brook Jacoby during the game against the San Diego Padres at Great American Ball Park on July 30, 2012 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Votto, on the disabled list since July 16, worked out before the game. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)Toronto Blue Jays Alex Anthopoulos likes what he sees in new prospect Devon Travishttp://o.canada.com/sports/baseball/infield-prospect-devon-travis-excited-about-future-with-toronto-blue-jays
http://o.canada.com/sports/baseball/infield-prospect-devon-travis-excited-about-future-with-toronto-blue-jays#commentsThu, 13 Nov 2014 22:18:38 +0000http://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=544399&preview_id=544399]]>TORONTO — Devon Travis had just walked into his parents’ home in West Palm Beach, Fla., when his cellphone rang. He didn’t answer right away. He noted the time: 10:11 p.m. And the caller: Dave Owen, player development director for the Detroit Tigers.

Anxiety engulfed him.

“I think I’m about to get traded,” Travis told his parents.

Ten seconds after Travis finished talking to Owen on Wednesday night, his phone rang again. It was general manager Alex Anthopoulos, welcoming the 23-year-old second baseman to the Blue Jays, and telling him — no guarantees, mind you — that he just might get a shot at winning a big-league job in spring training.

By 9 a.m. Thursday morning, Travis was hearing via text from a new teammate, a fellow “little guy” he had come to know as an opponent during his college days.

At 1 p.m. Thursday, Travis continued his whirlwind transition from Tiger to Blue Jay in a conference call with Toronto baseball writers. He talked about always being the smallest player on his team, even when he was five years old. (He is five-foot-nine now, and may have a couple of centimetres on Stroman.) He said he’s the guy whose uniform is always dirty from going all-out, diving to make plays even when he knows there’s no chance. He said he never takes a pitch off, or an inning, or a game. Little guys need to do something extra.

“I don’t ever consider myself great at any specific thing,” Travis said. “I just like to work as hard as I can and just let the results show for themselves. I have a lot of fun. I’m a guy that likes to smile a lot and really just enjoy the game. I try not to take anything too seriously.”

Anthopoulos needs a second baseman. Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski needs a centre-fielder. Each club had some depth in the other club’s area of need. Anthopoulos says he did not set out to trade speedy outfielder Anthony Gose in this off-season, but Travis-for-Gose made sense for both sides. The Jays still had Dalton Pompey and Kevin Pillar to vie for the centre-field job.

Earlier on Wednesday, Baseball America had elevated Travis to No. 1 on the Tigers’ prospect list. He spent the 2014 season in Double-A, batting .298 with a .358 on-base percentage, 10 homers and 16 stolen bases in 100 games.

Travis’s self-assessment — that he’s not great at any specific thing — matches up with what scouts say.

“He just does a lot of little things well,” Anthopoulos said. “He’s a good all-around baseball player. He does a lot of things to help you win games. He can steal a base for you. He has surprising power, from what our scouting reports have. And he’s solid from a defensive standpoint as well.”

As for his readiness, Anthopoulos said: “We think he can come quick.”

Travis pondered the question, then said: “I don’t want to come out and say I think I’m ready right now to do well in the big leagues, but I do believe in myself, and I do think I could play in the big leagues today.”

Travis has batted .323 with an .876 OPS in just over two full seasons in the minors. How that might translate to the major leagues is a matter of guesswork. He has not played a game at Triple-A.

It is imprudent, of course, to anoint him as the Jays’ second baseman three months before spring camp opens, but management believes Travis brings an unambiguous if unspectacular skill set to the table. So it’s understandable if some fans suddenly have high hopes. After all, second base saw an undistinguished parade of seven different Blue Jays pass through last season. That group posted an on-base percentage of .291. Comparatively, only six teams did worse.

“Travis’s tools aren’t flashy, but scouts come to appreciate him the more they see him because of his ability to hit, manage the strike zone and play smart, fundamentally sound baseball in all areas of the game,” wrote Ben Badler in Baseball America.

Erie SeaWolves second baseman Devon Travis throws to first base to turn a double play as Binghamton Mets baserunner T.J. Rivera slides into second base during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Erie, Pa July 14, 2014. Travis thinks he’s ready to play at the major-league level. The Toronto Blue Jays could very well give him that opportunity next season.

Anthopoulos told reporters that the Jays had not given up on Gose, even though the 24-year-old outfielder had never showed any signs of consistent offence in 202 big-league games. He is, however, an elite defensive outfielder.

“This (deal) has everything to do with Devon Travis,” Anthopoulos said Thursday morning. “We like him a lot. We were not looking to trade Anthony Gose.”

Travis was a 13th-round draft pick in 2012. That same year, Stroman was a first-rounder. They don’t know each other well, but when Travis attended Florida State and Stroman played for Duke, their teams were Atlantic Coast Conference rivals.

For a time, they were both second basemen.

Travis told a story Thursday about the first time he noticed the jaunty Stroman, who is now ensconced in the Jays’ starting rotation.

“Stroman could hit a little bit in college,” Travis said. “He’s a good fielder. He can run. He’s a pretty freakish athlete. And he played second base as well. He played all the innings at second base, and in the ninth inning he comes in and pitches.

“He gets on the mound, and there’s this little guy, and we’re like, ‘Aw, it’s gonna be great. Guy throwing 84, 85, it’s a chance to get our hits.’ And this little guy gets on the mound and he’s blowing bubbles and he’s throwing 95, 96 as a freshman in college. From that day on, I was immediately intrigued by him.”

They connected when they played on rival teams in the Arizona Fall League last year and have kept in touch. Now they are teammates, at least for part of spring training, depending on whether Travis makes the club, which in turn depends on how he performs and what other moves Anthopoulos makes in the next couple of months.

For Travis, who was blocked by Ian Kinsler in Detroit, the trade offers a clearer path to the big leagues. But with prospects, you never know.

“I’m just thankful, man,” Travis said. “All you can ask for in life and in this game is an opportunity … The opportunity that I have now here with the Blue Jays, I’m so thankful for that.”

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/baseball/infield-prospect-devon-travis-excited-about-future-with-toronto-blue-jays/feed002X083_626F_9postmedianews1The Toronto Blue Jays acquired Devon Travis from the Detroit Tigers for centre-fielder Anthony Gose. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) Erie SeaWolves second baseman Devon Travis throws to first base to turn a double play as Binghamton Mets baserunner T.J. Rivera slides into second base during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Erie, Pa July 14, 2014. Travis thinks he's ready to play at the major-league level. The Toronto Blue Jays could very well give him that opportunity next season.Toronto Blue Jays trade Anthony Gose to Detroit Tigers for second baseman Devon Travishttp://o.canada.com/sports/blue-jays-trade-anthony-gose-to-tigers-for-second-baseman-devon-travis
http://o.canada.com/sports/blue-jays-trade-anthony-gose-to-tigers-for-second-baseman-devon-travis#commentsThu, 13 Nov 2014 04:34:50 +0000http://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com?p=543884&preview_id=543884]]>TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays have traded centre-fielder Anthony Gose to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for second base prospect Devon Travis.

The Blue Jays announced the deal Wednesday night.

Travis, 23, spent the 2014 season with the double-A Erie SeaWolves, where he hit .298 with 20 doubles, seven triples, 10 home runs and 52 RBIs. The right-handed hitter posted a .358 on-base percentage and stole 16 bases. He suffered a sports hernia near the end of the season and had surgery in September.

Travis was selected by Detroit in the 13th round of the 2012 first year player draft. Baseball America recently ranked him the No. 1 prospect in the Tigers’ organization.

Devon Travis, just acquired by Jays, was supposed to play in the Arizona Fall League this year but underwent core muscle surgery.

In three minor league seasons, Travis has a career average of .323 with 92 extra base hits in 257 games with 139 RBIs, 41 stolen bases and an OPS of .876.

Gose, 24, batted .226 with a .311 on-base percentage through 94 games with the Blue Jays last season. He had 13 RBIs and 15 stolen bases in 20 attempts.

“Anthony is a true centre-fielder that can provide us with above-average defence in centre field with a good arm,” said Tigers president Dave Dombrowski said. “He possesses above-average speed and can steal bases at the major league level. He swings the bat from the left side and we feel that he will continue to improve his offensive game.”

The Tigers, in need of outfield depth, had attempted to move Travis to centre field towards the end of the 2014 season.

The Blue Jays will play at least one home game against all of their American League East division rivals before closing out the 32-game schedule at Montreal against the Cincinnati Reds, the team said Wednesday in a release.

Toronto will wrap up the Florida portion of its pre-season April 1 against the Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers. The Blue Jays will get an off-day before facing the Reds at Olympic Stadium on April 3 and 4.

The regular season will begin April 6 in New York with a three-game set against the Yankees. Toronto’s home opener is scheduled for April 13 against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Blue Jays finished third in the American League East last season with an 83-79 record.

For the third straight year, baseball’s free agents shunned qualifying offers from their former teams and chose to test the market.

Cabrera was one of 12 players that decided not to accept a US$15.3 million offer by Monday’s 5 p.m. EST deadline.

World Series star Pablo Sandoval (San Francisco) also let the deadline pass, as did pitcher Max Scherzer and first baseman-designated hitter Victor Martinez (Detroit), and left-hander Francisco Liriano and Canadian catcher Russell Martin (Pittsburgh).

One of the dozen, Colorado outfielder Michael Cuddyer, became the first major free agent to switch teams when he agreed to a US$21 million, two-year contract with the New York Mets.

Cabrera originally signed a two-year, US$16 million contract with Toronto in 2012 after serving a 50-game suspension for PED use while a member of the San Francisco Giants.

Last season he batted .301 with 16 home runs and 73 RBIs in 139 games before a broken finger ended his year in early September.

In 10 big-league seasons, the 30-year-old has suited up for five teams, including the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals, Giants and Blue Jays.

In the three off-seasons of the current collective bargaining agreement, none of the 34 qualifying offers have been accepted.

“Players offered the qualifying offer carefully considered their options and decided to pursue further free agency rather than accept a $15.3 million contract in a market that should be robust given the economic health of the game,” union head Tony Clark said in an email. “I expect free agent compensation will be an important part of bargaining in 2016, as it has been over our entire history.”

An offer could be made only to a free agent who was with the team for the entire season. The price was determined by the average of the top 125 major league contracts this year by average annual value.

If a team made a qualifying offer to a player who signs a major league contract with another club before the June amateur draft, his former club would receive a draft pick as compensation at the end of the first round.

The club signing that player loses its first-round pick in the amateur draft, unless that pick is among the top 10, in which case the club signing that player loses its next-highest pick.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/all-12-of-baseball-free-agents-turn-down-15-3-million-qualifying-offers/feed0Melky-Cabrera.jpgtheassociatedpresscanadaJays trade first baseman Adam Lind to Brewers for right-hander Marco Estradahttp://o.canada.com/sports/jays-trade-first-baseman-adam-lind-to-brewers-for-right-hander-marco-estrada
http://o.canada.com/sports/jays-trade-first-baseman-adam-lind-to-brewers-for-right-hander-marco-estrada#commentsSat, 01 Nov 2014 20:33:00 +0000http://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com/?p=538461]]>TORONTO — Adam Lind’s decade-long run in Toronto came to an end Saturday as the Blue Jays picked up his US$7.5-million contract option for next year and promptly traded him to the Milwaukee Brewers for right-hander Marco Estrada.

Lind, who was drafted by the Blue Jays in the third of the 2004 draft, had a .321 average with six homers and 40 RBIs in 96 games last season. He missed extensive time with back problems and a right foot injury.

Estrada, meanwhile, was 7-6 for the Brewers last season with a 4.36 earned-run average. The 31-year-old native of Sonora, Mexico appeared in 39 games and made 18 starts.

Former Toronto Blue Jay Adam Lind. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

The Blue Jays also exercised contract options on left-hander J.A. Happ at $6.7 million and catcher Josh Thole at $1.75 million, the team said in a release.

Toronto also declined options on right-handers Dustin McGowan, Brandon Morrow and Sergio Santos, allowing them to elect free agency. McGowan gets a $500,000 buyout rather than a $4-million salary, Morrow receives a $1-million buyout rather than a $10-million salary, and Santos gets a $750,000 buyout instead of a $6-million salary.

In addition, outfielder Melky Cabrera was extended a qualifying offer at $15.3 million and has until Nov. 10 to accept. If Cabrera signs a major-league contract with another club before the amateur draft in June, Toronto would receive a draft pick as compensation at the end of the first round.

The $3.65-million option on first baseman Justin Smoak was also declined. He gets a $150,000 buyout and becomes eligible for salary arbitration. He was claimed off wiavers from Seattle earlier this week.

The Blue Jays also reinstated third baseman Brett Lawrie of Langley, B.C., infielder Maicer Izturis, right-hander Chad Jenkins and outfielder Andy Dirks from the 60-day disabled list and added them to the 40-man roster.

Lind, a 31-year-old first baseman/designated hitter, has a .273 career average with 146 home runs and 519 RBIs over nine big-league seasons.

Estrada was drafted by Washington in the sixth round of the 2005 draft. In seven seasons with the Nationals and Brewers, he has a 23-26 record with a 4.23 ERA. He has made 74 starts over 154 career appearances.

Estrada made $3,365,500 last season. He’s eligible for salary arbitration and can become a free agent after the 2015 World Series.

Francis, a 33-year-old from North Delta, B.C., pitched in 12 games this past season for the Yankees, Athletics and Reds. The veteran of 10 major-league seasons got an invitation to spring training with the Blue Jays as part of the deal.

Andy Dirks spent time with Detroit from 2011-13 and hit .276 with 24 home runs and 100 RBIs in 297 games. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)

Dirks, 28, played in just 14 minor-league games in 2014 after recovering from March back surgery.

An eighth-round pick of the Tigers in 2008, Dirks spent time with Detroit from 2011-13 and hit .276 with 24 home runs and 100 RBIs in 297 games.

Dirks had a career-high batting average of .322 and an OPS of .857 in 2012.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/baseball/blue-jays-sign-canadian-pitcher-jeff-francis-claim-outfielder-andy-dirks-off-waivers/feed0Texas Rangers v New York YankeesthecanadianpressDETROIT, MI - AUGUST 15: Andy Dirks #12 of the Detroit Tigers singles to right field in the first inning during the game against the Kansas City Royals at Comerica Park on August 15, 2013 in Detroit, Michigan. The Tigers defeated the Royals 4-1. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)Scott Stinson: Raptors offer refreshing remedy to Toronto’s sporting woeshttp://o.canada.com/sports/basketball/scott-stinson-raptors-offer-refreshing-remedy-to-torontos-sporting-woes
http://o.canada.com/sports/basketball/scott-stinson-raptors-offer-refreshing-remedy-to-torontos-sporting-woes#commentsThu, 30 Oct 2014 23:56:52 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=537724]]>It didn’t feel like a Toronto sporting event, and then it totally did, and then it didn’t at all.

The Raptors’ season-opening win over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, which started joyous, turned dire, and ended happy, wasn’t particularly remarkable for any one moment, but more for what it signalled: this is a team, in a town that has precious few positive sporting memories than weren’t forged more than 20 years ago, that is just plain good. Not maybe-OK-if-they-catch-some-breaks good, which is about the highest praise to be offered of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the past decade. Not great-on-paper-if-the-new-guys-work-out, which was the optimistic view of the Toronto Blue Jays heading into the 2013 season, and which lasted about as long as it took to type this sentence.

Just good. The Raptors are good. We are repeating ourselves because it still feels weird to say it about a Toronto team.

Usually, when a member of the Raptors has addressed the Air Canada Centre crowd, it is to thank fans for coming out to another lost season. But Kyle Lowry’s pre-game speech was drowned out by cheers on Wednesday. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)

The fans are certainly warming up to the concept. Before the season tipped off, guard Kyle Lowry, newly beloved because of his off-season decision to sign a four-year, $48-million US contract rather than depart as a free agent, stood at centre court to address the crowd. His words were drowned out by cheers, and he ended up giving an aw-shucks statement that thanked fans for their support and looked forward to the coming season. Usually, when a member of the Raptors has addressed the Air Canada Centre crowd, it is to thank fans for coming out to another lost season, and to shield executives a little from the expected boos.

From there, things proceeded more or less according to plan. The Raptors jumped out to a quick lead, keyed by solid interior defence from Amir Johnson. Eventually guard Terrence Ross, with the ball at midcourt after a turnover and with no one between him and the hoop, floated down the lane as the crowd hummed in anticipation and finished with a monster two-handed dunk. The subsequent roar was the sound a crowd with some pent-up anticipation makes and, it must be noted, it was a sound that has been in drastically short supply this season when the hockey team has been playing.

As the game wore on, the Raptors displayed perhaps their greatest asset, their depth. Entire units of bench players took the floor, and it didn’t lead to a calamitous drop-off. New acquisition Lou Williams hit open three-pointers, new-old Raptor James Johnson played strong defence, Greivis Vasquez canned jump shots and made the three-finger sign, continuing his seamless imitation of Jose Calderon, the previous Spanish-speaking backup guard. Were it not for Toronto’s persistent inability to prevent Atlanta from getting open looks at three-point shots, the Raptors would have overwhelmed the Hawks before the third quarter was out, but they surrendered just enough long balls to allow the opponent to stick around.

Coach Dwane Casey had warned of such a development, praising the Hawks as a “great test,” with a bunch of good shooters and an offence that could keep swinging the ball around until it found an open shot. Casey called the Hawks “San Antonio East,” which is laying it on a bit thick, but his larger point that the team couldn’t be taken lightly was a valid one. This became most evident when the Raptors, having built a 19-point lead early in the fourth quarter, managed to give 15 points of that away in the closing minutes. (The Hawks made 59 per cent of their three-point attempts on the night, which gives a sense of how open many of those shots were.)

Patrick Patterson and the rest of the Raptors’ second unit was impressive against the Hawks on Wednesday. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)

It was at this point that collars were nervously adjusted. For all that we knew coming in, this was the same Raptors team — but deeper! — that finished third in the Eastern Conference last season. We also knew blowing an all-but-clinched game on a celebratory night would be a very Toronto-sports thing to do. This is why when a Toronto team scores to make a lead seemingly insurmountable, the fist pump is followed by a creeping sense of dread. Not, ‘We got this!,’ but, ‘We got this … right?’

Such worries proved unfounded. Lowry, ever the bulldog, kept driving to the basket and getting the benefit of foul calls that bad teams sometimes don’t get. DeMar DeRozan missed two free throws of his own, but grabbed his own rebound, was fouled again, and made both of those. A key miss that didn’t prove fatal? How novel. Aided by the Hawks’ free-throw-shooting woes — they were worse from the foul line (52 per cent) than they were from the three-point line — the Raptors pulled away again to win by seven points.

On a night where they were ripe for a stumble, with Lowry and DeRozan a combined 7 for 27 from the field, the Raptors instead locked down a win against a quality opponent. They did it almost casually, like the result was inevitable. In the previous 19 seasons this team has been playing in Toronto, there has hardly ever been that mood about the place. Other good teams would come in, the Raptors might hang around, but there was a time when the visitors would stop screwing about and get on with winning. Now it is the home side that looks like that team.

Tyler Hansbrough rejects the Atlanta Hawks’ Paul Millsap on Wednesday. Tough defence helped the Raptors lock down a quality opponent in their season opener. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)

Toronto fans could be forgiven if wondering if last year’s strong finish was a mirage. That is the pattern here, where hope and letdown run in lockstep. But this Raptors bunch looks confident, and capable. On opening night, it won the kind of game that good teams win. Not great, but solid. Good. Better than most. Good.

This will still take some getting used to.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/basketball/scott-stinson-raptors-offer-refreshing-remedy-to-torontos-sporting-woes/feed0Greivis VasquezscottmstinsonUsually, when a member of the Raptors has addressed the Air Canada Centre crowd, it is to thank fans for coming out to another lost season. But Kyle Lowry's pre-game speech was drowned out by cheers on Wednesday. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)Patrick Patterson and the rest of the Raptors' second unit was impressive against the Hawks on Wednesday. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)Tyler Hansbrough rejects the Atlanta Hawks' Paul Millsap on Wednesday. Tough defence helped the Raptors lock down a quality opponent in their season opener. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)Toronto Blue Jays claim first baseman Justin Smoak off waivershttp://o.canada.com/sports/toronto-blue-jays-claim-first-baseman-justin-smoak-off-waivers
http://o.canada.com/sports/toronto-blue-jays-claim-first-baseman-justin-smoak-off-waivers#commentsTue, 28 Oct 2014 19:23:21 +0000http://postmediacanadadotcom.wordpress.com/?p=536382]]>TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays claimed Seattle Mariners first baseman Justin Smoak off waivers Tuesday.

The 27-year-old Smoak appeared in 80 games for the Mariners last season, batting just .202 with seven home runs and 30 RBIs.

The former first-round pick of the Texas Rangers in 2008 has spent parts five seasons in the majors, recording a .224 average with 74 home runs in 566 games.

Chances of #BlueJays parting with Adam Lind have increased, now that they've acquired Justin Smoak from #Mariners on waivers.

]]>http://o.canada.com/sports/toronto-blue-jays-claim-first-baseman-justin-smoak-off-waivers/feed0Robinson CanothecanadianpressAre Tampa Bay Rays moving to Montreal?http://o.canada.com/sports/are-tampa-bay-rays-moving-to-montreal
http://o.canada.com/sports/are-tampa-bay-rays-moving-to-montreal#commentsMon, 27 Oct 2014 17:07:10 +0000http://o.canada.com/?p=535619]]>Major-league baseball fans north of the border no doubt had a tough time seeing the Washington Nationals make the playoffs this post-season, considering this is the team that abandoned Montreal 10 years ago.

“And according to sources, (Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart) Sternberg has had discussions with wealthy Wall Street associates about moving the Rays to Montreal, which has been without a major-league franchise since the Expos were transferred to Washington in 2005. As one major-league official put it to me Friday: “Say what you will about Montreal, but the Expos drew well over two million fans four times there in their heyday, while the Rays did that only once, their first year.”

Now wouldn’t that be cool?

This story apparently came to light after Friday’s announced departure of the Rays manager Joe Maddon, who exercised his out clause after GM Andrew Friedman said on Oct. 17 that he was leaving to join the Los Angeles Dodgers as president of baseball operations. Speculation began that Maddon would join him in Los Angeles, but it quickly was shot down. Chicago Cubs are now the next ride in the managerial merry-go-round.

With Maddon leaving, the plight of the Rays seems to be worsening. After 10 woeful seasons as an expansion franchise beginning in 1998, the Rays have been seen as a model organization, that drafts well, and trades players for more young talent at the right time.

But the team finished this season 77-85, and with the architect and its driver leaving, combined with horrible attendance, the Rays leaving town momentum is gaining some traction. Losing James Shields, David Price, Matt Garza and Carl Crawford in recent seasons hasn’t helped either.

“An owner looking for new stadium public funding feigns frustration then looks around for a city that has shown a desire for a team of its own. Ownership threatens to move until one or various levels of government pony up, and they usually do.”

Griffin points out the various times teams have been teased by pro sports owners’ public musings about the greener pastures of another city (Toronto’s wooing by San Francisco Giants in 1976 being the most relevant to Canadian baseball) and cautions long-suffering Expos fanatics to draw some breath.

This is nothing new RT "@jetfand Eric anything to stories of Rays looking at move to Montreal?" #Expos

“Right now, there isn’t a suitable stadium in Montreal — Olympic Stadium is old — but there is there is a workable solution: use the formula Quebec City is using to build the $400 million Quebecor Arena. The financing for the arena was a combination of public (taxpayer) and private (corporate-sponsorship) dollars, so a potential partnership between the city of Montreal and Bell Globe Media, owners of both TSN and RDS, two of Canada’s biggest cable sports networks, could work.”